A Story Set In Stone
by ploytoid
Summary: Naruto, tired of the village after their reaction to him saving Sasuke, decides to leave. In an attempt to keep Naruto from becoming a missing nin Tsunade orders him to go to Suna. Along the way be runs into hurt Iwa Kunoichi and helps her. See how just one act can change entire fate of one person. Smart/Grey Naruto.
1. The Story Begins

**HELLO. This is a side project I have been working on while I was writing Secret of a Fox. I hope ye enjoy. This story is going to be updated slower than my other story. **

**Kind of a rough first chapter but don't let that stop you from seeing future chapters. **

"Normal voice"

**'**normal thinking'

**"Demon/Jutsu"**

**'Demon thinking'**

**I do not own Naruto. **

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX **

Naruto sighed as he looked around the forest area he was resting in. His chest screamed at him as the wound he received was slowly healing itself. Naruto gritted his teeth as he slowly kept making his way forward, passing a sign that said 'welcome to Kusa no Kuni'

_Naruto painted and breathed heavy as he slowly stood up. A gaping hole in his chest started to slowly close. _

_He stumbled over to the body of his black haired friend. His muscles started to burn as Naruto picked up the Uchiha but he was determined to finish his mission. _

Naruto walked slowly, before sensing the presence of two people jumping down from the trees. Naruto smiled sadly at the two ninja sent to apprehend him. "Of course they sent you two. Why wouldn't they" he said dryly looking at the forms of Iruka Umino and Kakashi Hatake.

_He moved slowly, the wound nearly closed but leaving a very red scar near his heart. With the duck haired Uchiha on his shoulders, he entered the gates of Konoha, and even saw a pink haired girl waiting on a bench. She jumped up when she saw them. Naruto smiled, he did it. But why was there rage in her eyes?_

Kakashi stood in his lazy manner and gave Naruto an eye smile. "Well of course. What kind of teacher would I be if I didn't check up on my student. You weren't even at the hospital long enough to have visitors you know." He said while Iruka looked sad.

"We've been told to bring you back to the village Naruto. They are only giving you one chance to return freely or you'll be branded a missing nin" he said holding on to a leaf headband, the very same one he gave Naruto when he beat Mizuki. "But I wanted to hear why you left"

_SMACK!_

_Naruto was on the ground, his cheek stinging from where Sakura had slapped him and was proceeding to yell at him for 'nearly killing' her precious Uchiha. It was the last words that landed the hardest blow. "Just get away from here you stupid demon" she screamed before heading towards the hospital with Sasuke _

_Naruto's face went blank, his heart shattered. He sighed but picked himself up. He needed to get his injuries checked out. The hole in his chest now completely closed but left nothing to the imagination on what had happened. _

_It seemed news traveled fast, as he walked he noticed the usual glares and whispers were worse. They were even throwing comments his way. He was a block away from the hospital when he was stopped by an Anbu. _

_"You're needed by the council. Come with me" he said as they vanished in a swirl of leaves. _

"You wanna know why I left? I left because it doesn't matter what I do. I will never be anything more than an annoyance to the village" Naruto spat out with venom. "Well I'm done. I want nothing more to do with that village."

Kakashi looked away, regret in his eyes. Iruka nodded sadly, knowing the harsh reality the boy was facing. "But what about your friends? They'll miss you. I'll miss you." Iruka said.

_"You will learn your place boy!" The bandaged figure of Danzo said. "Nearly killing the Uchiha, the amount of raw demonic chakra sensed at the battle site?! One more toe out of line will see you killed. Probably when we extract the fox and place it in someone else. Do you understand me boy?" He snarled. "You are alive only because the Fourth hokage made a very good seal. Nothing more" _

_Naruto nodded blankly as he walked out of an office building. He walked towards the hospital but shook his head. 'why bother. They've never healed me before without direct order from the Hokage' he thought to himself as he walked back to his apartment. _

_He walked inside and saw that it had been vandalized again. He growled. Enough was enough. He quickly made 6 shadow clones. Five went out the window while the last one started to help him pack. _

"I sent out clones to say goodbye to those that I needed to. Everyone else can live without me." He said. Iruka grew frustrated.

"Konohamaru came to me crying before Tsuande called. Was that part of you plan" he shouted clenching on to the head band.

_Konohamaru walked down the street wondering what was going on. He saw ninja running around quietly but quickly. He saw his favorite walking towards him. The young boy noticed that Naruto wasn't wearing his headband. _

_"Yo Naruto-nii-san. What's going on. Everyone seems a bit rushed." He said. The older ninja rolled his eyes and brought Konohamaru to a corner. _

_"So am I buddy. Look I got a gift for you okay? Close your eyes" he said. The young Sarutobi was confused but did as he was told. _

_Naruto quickly replaced his goggles with a Leaf headband and knelt down to his ears. "I'm going away Konohamaru. Just know that I believe in you and there are no shortcuts to becoming Hokage. You have to work hard" he said softly before hugging the younger boy, "hopefully I will get to see you in the future." _

_The words seemed to clickin Konohamaru's mind. "Wait" he said and when he opened his eyes Naruto was gone. He quickly took off the head band and gasped when he saw it. Beside the leaf symbol Naruto had drawn a swirl._

_The young ninjas eyes started to water and he ran off. He didn't make it far as he bumped into Iruka. _

Naruto shook his head, "Of course not. I merely wanted to leave him with encouraging words. I never meant for him to cry." Naruto said. Kakashi decided to intervene.

"And what about Tsuande? She was a blubbering mess. Shizune was the one who briefed us on our mission." He said with his hands in his pocket. Naruto looked away with regret, a feeling of emptiness from the missing weight around his neck.

_"I'm done Tsunade-baa-chan. No more. No longer" he said holding the necklace he won from her in his hands. _

_Tsunade widened her eyes. "What are you talking about Naruto?" She noticed that he wasn't wearing a headband. _

_"It means I quit. I'm leaving this village. It means I can no longer wear this. I'm technically breaking our pact after all" he said, placing the necklace on the desk. Tsuande looked angry at first but noticed the seriousness in his eyes. _

_"And you think I'll just let you leave?" She said with an even voice. Naruto scoffed. _

_"Of course not. But I guess a wake up call made me smarter. I'm not even in the village anymore." he said as he poofed away. Tsunade eyes widened again before she started to break down. "SHIZUNE" She screamed. _

"I didn't want to hurt her feelings." Naruto said softly. "But I'm not going back." He said firmly.

Iruka shook his head. "There's nothing we can say is there?" Naruto smiled sadly. He saw one more figure land on the ground. She had purple hair and wore very revealing clothes with a trench coat. On her back was a large scroll.

Hebi-chan" he said. Anko Mitarashi smiled when she saw the blonde.

"So they finally done it eh Foxy-kun. You're finally leaving?" She said sadly. Naruto nodded. She sighed but tossed Naruto a scroll. "Its from Tsunade. She wrote it out after she sent those two. You have my word it's not trapped."

"As if you would ever be that mean to me" he said unrolling the scroll.

_'To Naruto_

_By order of Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage of Konohagakure_

_You are hereby removed from the ranks of Konohagakure. You are to report to Suna and join their ranks. A messenger will be sent ahead. With Anko is something that is rightfully yours. Your inheritance. I will not divulge in the letters but just know this was everything they wanted to give to you. All the monetary stuff is safely secured. _

_Stay alive brat. _

_Tsunade Senju. A caring godmother. ' _

Naruto nearly dropped the letter. His inheritance? He looked at the giant scroll that Anko was carrying. That was his? "Here Naruto" the snake mistress said, handing Naruto the scroll.

Kakashi smiled as he handed Naruto a scroll as well. "I figured you weren't coming back. I was gonna give this to you. The Fourth Hokage made it with my father. I don't use it anymore. Maybe you can put it to good use" he said. Iruka gave Naruto a hug.

"Stay safe Naruto. Please? Even if you don't become Hokage then at least become a strong ninja." Iruka said.

"Alright. I'm gonna become strong. Just watch me. I'm heading to Suna" he said. Kakashi took out a map and handed it to Naruto.

"Here. Avoid Ame if you can. Go through Kusa and take the route through Tsuchi no Kuni into Tsume no Kuni. Then from there it's a straight shot into Kaze no Kuni and Sunagakure." He said tracing out Naruto's path. Naruto nodded.

The three watched Naruto walk off, soon disappearing over the hill. Anko sighed. "It's gonna be real quiet with him gone." Kakashi nodded

"Indeed. Now I need to go back. No doubt the council is going to order me to keep an eye on Sasuke." He said as he jumped into the trees and dashed off. Iruka looked at Anko with a raised eyebrow.

"Foxy-kun? Hebi-chan? You know Naruto?" He asked as they started to walk back. Anko laughed.

"Yeah. When ever the villagers got real bad when he was a child he ran into the forest. You know how the villagers treat me so I already spend most of my time there." She said. "He was a nice kid so I let him stay in my house if he needed to. The forest kept most people away so it was a safe zone for him."

Iruka smiled. "At least he knew he could be safe. It's a shame what the villagers did. I should go tell the Ichiraku crew as well. They'll want to know why Naruto disappeared." The snake mistress shook her head.

"I'll never know how he can eat so much ramen." She said. This time Iruka laughed.

"Ichiraku Ramen stand was one of the only places where Naruto could go to eat. Teuchi and Ayame have always treated Naruto right. Half the time he goes Teuchi doesn't make him pay. They're like family to Naruto" he said. Anko nodded, understanding the connection. "It's very similar to that Dango stand you frequent you know."

"Of course. Now let's pick up the pace. I want Dango." She said as she started running. Iruka sighed but sped off after them after he gave one last look to the direction Naruto was in.

Speaking of said blonde he stopped for a second to eat a soldier pill. 'hey fox. How are the repairs coming along.'

''**Well enough. It's been slow because you nearly exhausted all of your chakra in the fight with the Uchiha'' **a deep voice replied. ''**The soldier pill you took should help replenish some of my chakra too which should make the process go by faster. But you should rest soon. You've been up for nearly 48 hours.''**

Naruto nodded. He could feel the exhaustion starting to set. It was the reason he took the chakra pill. The scar on his chest was still throbbing which was stopping him from going any faster leat he reopen the wound from over exertion. He took a look at his map.

'If I keep this pace then I should be able to reach the village of Tea before sundown. Right in the center of Kusa. What do you think?'

The voice growled. **"It doesn't matter to me. But the sooner you rest the quicker I can heal you. So hurry up." **Naruto nodded and set off with his destination in mind.

His mind went back to when he met the fox in chunin exams after that snake bastard hit him with that strange seal. According to the fox it was that seal that weakened his own, which allowed the two to talk in his mind.

**(Near Naruto, two hours later)**

Kurotsuchi cursed as she dodged another hail of Kunai. The black haired chunin couldn't believe her luck. Seriously, she was just on a regular diplomatic messenger mission.

'Oh yeah Kuro, all you have to do is take a messenger to the Wind Daimyo, wait for his reply, then return back to Iwa and jiji-sama. Why wouldn't there be a group of A ranked missing nin traveling through the area. And of course their leader would be a rapist. WHY WOULDN'T HE BE' she shouted to herself she went through hand signs and slammed her hand on the ground. "**Earth style: mud river flow"** she said as she started to spit out a flow of mud. She went through a couple more hand signs. **"Earth style: mud dragon bombs**."

Out of the mud rose a dragon that shot out five gobs of mud with deadly force. They hit four of the seven ninjas chasing her. The biggest one grinned as he forced her into taijutsu lock.

"I like my women fierce. The fierce ones are the best ones to break." He said as he forced Kurotsuchi back. Said Iwa ninja was about to make a move when a kunai embedded itself into her leg.

She growled as she went to one knee. The three ninja started to surround her. She made a hand sign but the mercenary leader caught it and broke her hands. Kurotsuchi couldn't help herself, she screamed.

"Looks like it's time to ." he said. "Watch my back. I'm going first he said as he started to take his shirt off.

**(With Naruto)**

Naruto could tell his chest was better already but the fox told him not to push it. 'We're about thirty minutes from this village. I guess I don't have to rush.'

"**You better not rush. Do you know how badly that asshole damaged you. You're lucky that all you're getting is a scar." **The voice boomed. Naruto agreed.

'I'm not complaining, besides, I hear ladies like a man with scars.' He retorted. The conversation was cut off when Naruto heard a feminine scream near him. 'What the hell? Can you tell where that came from fox?,

"**Hold on. Yes. To the left. I can sense four figures. Follow my directions" ** he said as Naruto started to run. He cursed at the pain but he decided to bear it. He didn't like the sound of that scream.

Kurotsuchi growled as the bandit leader tied her hands. "Im gonna kill you, all of you. You bastard!" She yelled before the mercenary backhanded her hard enough to disorientate her.

"Shut it bitch. I'm gonna enjoy my time with you" he said as he caressed her face. Kurotsuchi felt the fingers near her mouth and quickly bit down as hard as she could.

"Hey you stupid bitch let go" he said before taking a blunt Kunai and bashing her on the side of her head, knocking her out. "Oh well. Now she can't put up a fight" he said with glee as he took her flask jacket off and sliced her shirt down the middle, revealing a simple black bra.

Before the mercenary could do anything else his instincts kicked in as he jumped away from the unconscious girl. Just in time as a hail of kunai sailed right where he was standing.

He saw a blond haired ninja standing in front of the girl. He looked young. "So another kiddy who thinks he can play ninja and save a damsel in distress. Well to bad for you cause we gonna kill you dead brat". The red headed mercenary said.

Naruto took a stance and observed his surroundings. "**He's right Naruto. The one in the middle has enough chakra to be a jonin. The other two have a little less. In your current state you're screwed. You better have a plan." **the fox said.

'I do. Can I borrow your chakra I only need a tails worth' Naruto asked. He felt his chakra boost almost immediately. "I don't think you'll be killing me today. And you won't be touching the girl." He said firmly.

"You have balls kid. I'll give you that. What's your name? Wait, where are my manners. I am Tsubaki Ryoma, A ranked missing nin from Suna" Tsubaki said introducing himself.

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." He said. Tsubaki furrowed his eyebrows before shaking his head.

"Well then Uzumaki Naruto, pray and tell, how are you gonna fight all three of us, protect the girl, and keep yourself from being more injured than you already are?" Tsubaki asked taking a stance as he felt Naruto's chakra skyrocket. Said blond had a mischievous smirk.

"Who said I was gonna fight you?" Naruto said before crossing his fingers. "**Massive Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu"** he shouted as the entire area was filled with clones.

Tsubaki widened his eyes as a sea of orange filled his vision. All the clones looked at the three before sticking out their tongues. "Catch us if you can" they all chorused before they all took off.

Tsubaki growled. "After him. He's hoping to hide himself in all of his clones."

One of the other mercenaries seemed hesitant. "Sir, there's no way to tell where he went. How are we supposed to find him?"

Tsubaki thought for a moment. "They probably went to Tea."

"If you want to boss we could probably wait for them. Tea doesn't have any medical ninja. So the girl is going to be wounded. If we wait for them to leave we could ambush them."

Tsubaki thought a little longer before shaking his head. "No. Pointless. I'll just grab another traveler. Lets go" he said as he walked off

(With Naruto)

As soon as he made the clones he took off towards Tea with the girl in his arms. He could feel his body protesting against him and it was only thanks to the Kyuubi chakra that he was still moving. He winced as the clones started to dispel. He sighed and slowed down when he saw that Tsubaki wasn't following them.

He saw the village gate ahead and steeled his nerves as he continued moving forward. One of the village citizens saw them and quickly ran over.

"Oh my Kami, are you alright? Tobias come over here quick." The man shouted. Naruto saw out of the corner of his eye's a big man rushing over. "Here let Tobias take the girl. Lean on me. Shite" he said. Naruto had given the girl over and promptly fell forward, also unconscious.

**(Later)**

Naruto woke up with a groan. His entire body felt like it had gone through bushy brow-sensei's training again. 'Oy, fox what happened'

**"Well let's see. You had been up for almost 50 hours straight, near total chakra exhaustion with a severely wounded chest, forced yourself to use my chakra to help save girl and reopened said chest wound. When you hit Tea village and the girl was safe the adrenaline left and you crashed" **Kyuubi said. **"You've been out for about 12 hours. You appear to be in a modern hospital. No one here as any chakra over a genin. So it's likely that Tea isn't a ninja village"**

Naruto nodded as he sat up. He saw he was at least on the second floor based on what he saw outside the window. He heard some shuffling and the door knob turned. A rather tall man wearing scrubs walked in.

"Hello sir. My name is Suzuki Mei. I will be your nurse today and Doctor Tyler will be here in a moment. I'd like to ask you a few questions. First what's the last thing you remember?" Suzuki asked.

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows as he focused. "I saw that girl in the woods. She was surrounded by bandits and I rescued her. I took her here. I ran into someone and then passed out." Suzuki nodded and wrote down some notes.

"Okay what's your name? And are you affiliated to any village. Also be aware that anything you tell me will be held in confidence." He said.

Naruto nodded. He noticed all of his stuff was in a corner of the room with the giant scroll. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. Former Ninja of Konohagakure. I'm currently being reassigned to Suna though I haven't been inducted into their ninka corp yet." Suzuki hummed a small tune as he wrote some more notes.

"Do you know the Iwa ninja you saved? Our hospital policy is that we don't go through your belongings." He explained. Naruto nodded understanding.

"No, I do not. I just heard her screaming in the woods and went and saved her. Is she okay?" He asked. Suzuki nodded

"She's sustained multiple injuries. Both hands are broken, multiple fractures throughout her body, her left leg has a deep laceration. She'll be on crutches for at least a month if she lets it heal naturally. Less time if she can reach her village and see a medic ninja." He said as he stood up. "Okay mister Uzumaki, Doctor Tyler will be in soon."

Naruto watched him leave. 'Any damage I need to be alerted to fox?'

**"Besides your scar being very agitated and your body being sore, not really. Seeing as you passed out I was able to heal you faster." **He said.

Naruto nodded as he got out of the hospital bed and started to change into his clothes. He put on his black shirt and orange pants**. **He looked at his orange jumper before he decided to seal it away. He opened up the big scroll and saw an empty sealing space. He also noticed that the scroll was mostly full which shocked him. He strapped it onto his back as he picked up his loyal gamma-chan. He smiled as he saw it was still full.

He had just put his sandals on when a man entered the room. He was wearing a wbite coat and some black glasses. His eyes were a soft green and his hair was brown.

"Hello Mister Uzumaki. Nurse Suzuki, filled me in. I wanted to let you know you that your injuries were minimal. You seem to have a chest injury that's very agitated and some of your muscles were stretched. But besides that you have a clean bill of health." He said flipping through the notes. "You can leave whenever you are ready but. I would like to ask you a favor."

Naruto looked at the man. "Will you stay until the Iwa kunoichi wakes up? I feel having another ninja and the one that saved her will keep her at ease."

Naruto nodded his head, he didn't mind. "Whats her condition?"

"She's still unconscious, and looks to be staying that way through the rest of the day. If you follow me, I'll show you her room." He said. Naruto nodded again and followed him down a hallway. He opened the door and Naruto saw the girl resting. Tyler nodded and left.

"**Shadow Clone jutsu" **he said as two clones appeared. "Go grab some food. And you go grab me a new outfit. Black colors." He order as the two clones left.

Naruto sat the large scroll on his back beside him as he sat down beside the bed. He unrolled the scroll and unsealed the first item. It was a note.

He looked at the sleeping girl and then to her stuff sitting in a pile in the corner. On the very top was a wallet. He knew it was an invasion of privacy technically but he picked up the wallet and looked for an ID.

"So her name is Kurotsuchi. Iwa Chunin." He said as he went back to his seat and looked at the note.

"_Hey son. If you're reading this then you've been deemed strong enough to know. I hope you don't hate me for sealing the Kyuubi in you. I want you to know that me and your mother love you very much. I need to go now, the fox is rampaging. I believe in you son."_

Naruto nearly dropped the note. 'My father is the Fourth Hokage'

**"Well it makes sense."** The fox said back. **"You'll probably find that the scroll will have the rest of their things in it" **

Naruto smiled. "At least I know who my parents are."

(**6 hours later)**

Naruto had pulled out his father's journals and were reading them. He was surprised at what his clones brought back. He was now wearing black muscle shirt and some black cargo pants. He also now had some black gloves with metal backings.

When Kurotsuchi started to come to the first thing she noticed was the pounding in her head. The second thing she noticed was the smell. She knew she was in a hospital. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that the sun was going down. She turned her head and saw a blond boy reading from a small notebook. And then saw her stuff in a corner.

She made a noise and the blond haired kid snapped towards her and she was surprised by the amount of worry in his eyes. "What happened?" She asked. Naruto noticed her voice was hoarse and he handed her a cup of water.

"You were being attacked by some mercenaries. I couldn't beat them so I made a distraction and took you here. Here is Tea village, center of Kusa by the way." Naruto said. Kurotsuchi furrowed her eyebrows.

She was sent to Kaze no Kuni. She ran into the group at Tsume no Kuni. And she fled to Kusa no Kuni. "Thank you sir. My name is Kurotsuchi. I'm a ninja from Iwa. And you are?"

"Naruto Uzumaki, former ninja of Konohagakure." He said with a smile. Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes.

"Why did a leaf ninja help a stone kunoichi?" She asked. Naruto scoffed at her tone.

"We may have been warring countries at one point but that doesn't mean we are enemies right now. Besides, I couldn't let a pretty girl like you be raped when I could stop it." Naruto said with a grin. The stone ninja rolled her eyes. They both turned to the door as Doctor Tyler walked in.

"Ah. I see you're awake. My name is Doctor Tyler. If you haven't figured out yet, you are in Tea Village Medical Hospital. Your friend over here brought you in a dire state, not that his was any better. How are you feeling?" He asked

"My head is pounding and I can barely feel my hands. Besides that I am fine." She said noticing her hands were in casts.

"As expected, I'll have Suzuki come in and give you some pain killers. Now, I am gonna ask you questions. If you would like your friend to step out anything you tell me will be held in confidence." He said. Kurotsuchi thought about it for a moment before shrugging her shoulders. She sas trained not to reveal secrets anyways.

"Okay then, what is your name and affiliated village?" He asked

"My name is Kurotsuchi, a chunin from Iwa" she said.

"Do have anyone we can contact? Traveling in your condition can be dangerous, unless your friend here will travel with you." He asked. Kurotsuchi nodded.

"If you can contact the Tsuchikage. He's my grandfather." She said. Naruto nearly fell over.

'The girl I just saved is the worst enemy my father ever fought?!' He screamed in his head

Doctor Tyler frowned, "I'm sorry. We don't have any messenger birds that can travel that far. We aren't a ninja village I'm afraid. Your hands are in position to be healed properly. You can leave after I do one last check up." He said "you would just have to change the bandage around the hands every five hours. Or if you want you can stay."

Kurotsuchi thought about it for a moment before she looked at Naruto. "Would you mind traveling with me? From here to Iwa is about a weeks travel. If we stick to the main roads then it should be safe. I can have jiji-sama pay you for escorting me. Think of it like a mission."

Naruto thought about it before shrugging his shoulders. "Sure why not. I can make a detour." He said.

Doctor Tyler nodded. "Okay then. I'll give you some of the medicine you'll need. If you need supplies then there is a general store near the hospital." He said as he left the room.

"So an escorting mission? You barely know me" he said. Kurotsuchi nodded.

"You didn't know me, yet you not only saved me but you did it while needing medical attention yourself. Plus I need to return to Iwa as fast possible." She said holding one of her bandaged hands up. "And I can't really travel fast on my own in this condition."

"Fair point. Can't get any better protection than a jinchuriki." He said, not thinking about as he walked out of the room.

Kurotsuchi nodded, happy to have a traveling companion. It took her a moment but then Naruto's words registered in her head.

"WAIT WHAT?!" She screeched, caught completely off guard.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**SO. I hope you enjoyed that chapter. Kurotsuchi is injured and Naruto is heading to Iwa, all the while learning more about his parents. **

**Tsubaki is my own OC that i wrote out a while ago and I'm so happy that I can use this in a story. **

**I hope you like the beginning, I don't think I've ever seen a fanfic do repeated flashbacks like that.**

**Leave a review if you liked. I'll post the next chapter as soon as I can. **

**ploytoid signing off. Ja ne. **


	2. The Journey Ahead

**Hello. A new chapter of SOLAR. I hope ye enjoy. Now onto comments. **

**Adrian King 1: No. This Naruto is only at a chunin level. And he will grow kinda fast but not so fast it ruins the story. **

**Uzumaki Spiral: it's an AU. Everything will be convenient. **

**Thanks for all of the support. **

"Normal Talking"

'Normal thinking'

**"Demon talking"**

**'Demon thinking'**

**I do not own Naruto **

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Tsunade groaned as she started another paper. It had been four days since Naruto had left and the village was quiet. Well, quiet being relative seeing as most of the civilians celebrated when they heard the news.

She sheer amount of celebration had forced jee to revoke law made by the third Hokage concerning Naruto's status. Which unfortunately meant his friends also learned his secret as well

She was happy to hear that most of them didn't care. Most being the key word. Sakura was the only one who did.

She growled when she remembered the pinkette asking for training two days ago.

_Flashback_

_"Lady Tsunade, Sakura is here to see you" Shizune said. _

_The blonde Hokage sighed. "Send her in. Might as well get this over with."_

_The black haired woman bowed as she left the office. A minute later the pink haired Kunoichi entered. _

_"Hello Sakura, what can I do for you," she said with a cold glare. Sakura didn't notice it. _

_"Lady Tsunade, I wanted to ask if you would take me as your apprentice. I would very much like to become a medical ninja." She said with a bow. _

_"You. You want me to teach you?" She said slowly, a small amount of killing intent leaking from her. "After everything you've done, you want me to train you!" Her voice was no louder than a whisper but there was a deadly edge to her voice. _

_"Excuse me? What I have I done?" She said. A small amount of anger entering her voice. That was a mistake. _

_"YOU'RE THE REASON NARUTO LEFT!" She shouted make Sakura reel back. Tsunade had fire in her eyes and murder on her mind. "If it wasn't for you my godson would still be in this village." _

_"G-g-godson?" Sakura muttered still in shock from the angry outburst of her bokage. _

_"Yes. Godson. And now he's gone." _

_Flashback ends_

Shizune had run in when she heard her master shout and had promptly led Sakura out of the room. She got up out of her chair with a frustrated sigh, worried about her favorite blond ninja.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.

"Come in" she said. She sighed as the elder council come in, led by Danzo The warhawk. "What can I do for you councilmen?"

Danzo spoke, "we are here to talk about the traitorous brat and what rank to assign him" Tsunade scowled at that too.

Somehow Sasuke escaped from the hospital yesterday. The Inuzuka tracker assigned to find him reported his scent went missing at the Valley of the End. "Agreed. Though I could care less if he had a dead or alive bounty on him, I presume the council wants the Uchiha brought back alive?"

Danzo shook his head. "No. We are talking about Uzumaki. The Uchiha will have an A rank bounty. 10000 ryo, alive only. We are thinking of B rank for Naruto."

"On what grounds? Naruto is not a missing nin" she said with an even voice. The Bandaged war hawk scoffed.

"Please. Everyone knows he fled the village four days ago. Instead of retiring, he simply fled. Therefore he needs to be dealt with." He said, unnerved by the smile on Tsunade's face.

"You're wrong Danzo. Naruto didn't flee. He has been reassigned to Suna, under there new Kazekage. I'm waiting for word that he has arrived safely." She said with a grin pulling out the official mission document and reassignment paper.

"You can not do this without permission. You have overstepped your boundaries." Danzo said,raising his voice.

Tsunade snapped her fingers and Danzo was surrounded by Anbu, all of them with weapons drawn. "You have overstepped your boundaries, councilmen. Sarutobi-sensei may have been lenient with you but I will not. This is a ninja village run by a Hokage. My word is law. If you speak out again I'll have you arrested for treason. Now you will bow to the wisdom of your kage and we will speak at our next gathering." She said firmly.

Danzo gritted his teeth but he nodded and walked away, the other two members walking with him.

Tsunade looked out her window again. 'I hope you are safe brat.'

(**Naruto)**

Naruto smiled as he caught some more fish. It had been four days since he saved Kurotsuchi. Four days they've been on the road. Even with a broken wrist, the Iwa chunin showed she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

They had stopped for a moment and decided it was time for some lunch. Hence the reason he was catching fish.

In the four days they had been traveling he had learned a lot about Kurotsuchi. They had opted to travel at a civilians pace so they wouldn't alert any attention, giving the two plenty of time to talk.

Kurotsuchi was the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. Her father had been killed in the second ninja war, leaving her mother to raiser her by herself. She was on the verge of being a jonin and she had a special bloodline that let her use a doton heavy lava release. Basically making liquid hot rocks that hardened in an instant.

She liked bonsai trees, sweets and strong willed people. She hated people who used their name to increase their status, people that caved instantly, and she hated bitter food.

Kurotsuchi, in turn, learned a lot about Naruto. Everything he was willing to share anyways.

He was the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki, a former leaf ninja, who was supposedly being reassigned to Suna, but he admitted he was leaving the village anyways and his Hokage did it so he wouldn't be branded a missing nin.

She learned that he was an only child and both of his parents were dead due to the Kyuubi attack. He was treated very poorly by his village, thus his reasoning for leaving.

She also deduced that he was around chunin level, but his skills were very low. Besides stamina and chakra capacity.

He liked ramen, training, and fighting. He disliked perverts, pedophiles, and those who were arrogant because of their name and/or bloodline.

Overall Kurotsuchi enjoyed Naruto's company. He didn't treat her like a princess like the rest of her village did, he respected her privacy, and from what she could tell, didn't seem to want revenge on Iwa.

"Naruto, if I may, can I ask you a question?" She said as Naruto prepared a fire and started to gut the fish.

"Sure. Just be prepared if I can't answer it." He said.

"Are you not made for what Iwa and Kumo did to your clan?" She asked. Naruto paused and gave her a look.

"Excuse me? What Do you mean? What clan?" He asked confused.

"Well you said you were Naruto Uzumaki. I figured you were from the now destroyed Uzumaki clan. Did you not know?" She asked back.

He shook his head. "I told you. I wasn't well liked in Konoha. To very bad degree. The academy instructors took every opportunity to sabotage me. Which meant making me miss class or giving me wrong textbook information."

Kurktsuchi nodded in understanding. "Okay. Let me explain. Back in the second ninja war Konoba and Uzushiogakure became allies. They even said it was believed that the first hokage married an Uzumaki. The Uzumaki clan was famous for one reason. They were master sealers. And they were feared because of it. Follow me?" Naruto nodded

"Okay. So during the second war, the Uzunaki clan were slaughtering all forces that came by the ocean. So Kumo and Iwa launched a major joint assault on the island. They were caught by surprise. Their leader, knowing defeat was inevitable, activated secret explosives and destroyed most of the offensive force and island." She said.

Naruto couldn't believe his ears, "so it took the forces of two great nations to take down my clan. Wow" he said lost in thought.

"So you don't care about it?" She asked.

Naruto shook his head, "not really. It's all in the past. Can't do anything about it now."

Kurotsuchi nodded, "Do you think you could join Iwa?" She asked, seemingly out of the blue.

The blond ninja thought about it. "I guess. I really haven't planned anything other than running away from the village. But if I go to Iwa then Tsunade-baa-chan would have to mark me as a missing njn."

"But you would be protected by Iwa if you come. I don't think jiji-sama would mind. You would also be treated like a normal ninja. Or a hero, when they learned you saved me." She said with an enthusiastic grin. 'Plus having another jinchuuriki back in the village help boost our strength. Could probably get Roshi-jiji to help train him. I don't think Han would' he thought to herself

"I guess I could try. Besides what's the worst that could happen" he said as he made his mind up. He would travel to Iwa and try to join.

"You won't regret it. Now, I'm gonna fill you in on some things we do different in Iwa. First thing, most of our squads are five man cells. You have the Captain, a close range fighter, a mid range fighter, a long range fighter, and then a medic who can be any of the three." She said.

Naruto started to make some plates as she went into some details. They had another days worth of travel ahead of them so he had time.

(**With Tsunade, a day later)**

Tsunade groaned at another day's work. She needed an apprentice; then she could get out more. 'Maybe Tenten will do. Or if Hiashi will let me, Hinata would be a perfect candidate. Could help her get over Naruto'

When Hinata had learned Naruto had left she had changed. Still the sweet girl she was but a cold attitude was worn around her anytime someone bad mouthed about Naruto. The blonde hokage cringed when she was told Sakura was critically injured from Hinata's gentle fist.

'She may be gentle but her fists do a lot of damage. It would be wonderful if she could take my enhanced strength technique.' She thought to herself.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by a messenger bird with a suna headband tapping on her window.

She untied the note and let the bird fly away.

_'To Tsunade Senju, Godaime Hokage of Konoha _

_From Gaara no Sabaku, Godaime Kazekage. _

_I have my ninja keep a watchful eye out for Naruto, but he has not made an appearance. I hope for the best and will keep you informed if and when he shows up. _

_I'm sorry I can not do more. Best regards,_

_Gaara'_

Tsunade cursed before she burned the letter. Naruto was supposed to be in Suna by now.

"Tori. Send Jiraiya to me. Now. Tell him it's about Naruto and it's important." She said. An anbu appeared.

"Yes ma'am" he said before disappearing.

'This isn't good. Hopefully he's just taking his time.' She said as she quickly wrote something in a scroll.

It wasn't long before the toad sannin was in the room. "Hey beautiful. Is this a social cal" he said. His mood changed when he saw the look in her eyes. "What happened?"

"Everything you need to is in this scroll. It's a black ops mission. No one is to know your task. Leave with in the hour." She said in a serious voice.

Jiraiya caught the undertone. 'So, an under table assignment. One the council doesn't need to know about.' He nodded, "understood Tsunade-hime. I'll get right on to it."

"Take your time with it. I need full details." She said before waving her hand dismissively. Jirayra was gone with the wind instantly.

He appeared in his house and started packing his gear. It took twenty minutes and he was ready to go.

'Ok let's see what so secretive.' He thought to himself.

_'Gaara reported. Naruto hasn't shown up. Worried. Use resources to find. Tell no one'_

He tossed the scroll in the area and launched a spark at the scroll, burning it to a crisp.

'Gotta find Naruto. Ok. Kakashi told me he was heading through Kusa no Kuni. I guess I could start there.' And be was off, hunting for Naruto.

Tsunade watched from her office as she saw Jiraiya running out of the village. She opened one of her desk draws and pulled a bottle of sake out.

Only one thing ran through her mind as she poured a cup. 'Please be safe brat.'

(**With Onoki, Iwagakura)**

"Where is she?" The old kage said out loud, worried about his granddaughter. "How does a week long mission turn into nearly two weeks. Maybe I should send out some Anbu. Akatsuchi wouldn't mind."

Onoki put his paperwork aside as he opened a window and proceeded to float to the top of his tower.

He rested at the top, looking at the village of Stone. The village rested in between two mountains, giving the village a protection that no other village had.

Iwa prided itself because it was the only village to never have been successfully sieged from an outside force. Onoki loved the view from the peak of his tower. It always helped calm his nerves.

'No. Kurotauchi is strong. She likely ran into trouble and had to take shelter for a few days.' He flew back into his office and decided to finish his paperwork for the day.

(**With Naruto and Kurktsuchi, one day later)**

Naruto stared to get giddy. During their travels, he had looked at some more things from his parents. He now had a blue sheathed katana on his back, his mother's sword.

His heritage was the only thing he hadn't told her about. It was a debate, but he eventually listened to the fox in his gut.

_**"Wait and see how the village is first. There may still be hostilities from the Third and Second war"**_

Kurotsuchi had told him they were thirty minutes away and he could see the outline of the village gates.

"Do not worry Naruto. Everything will be fine. Jiji-sama will listen to me. If anything, he shouldn't say no for the pure fact you're a freelance jinchuriki" she said with happiness in her voice.

"What if he decided to extract the Kyuubi and put it in one of his own Shinobi?" He asked. Kurotsuchi grinned.

"The Fourth Hokage was a bastard but he knew his way around with seals. He was as good as an Uzumaki. I don't think Jiji-sama will mess with your seal if the Fourth developed it." She said. Naruto winced but held his composure.

"What do you think of the Fourth Hokage? He was my hero for long a time." He asked.

"When I was younger, I hated him. But most children did at the time, you know, because of the war. As I grew older and became a better ninja I understood him. He killed a lot of my people but he did it as a ninja. And I can't hate a ninja who follows orders." She said as they were slowly approached the stone gates. "You said he was your hero. What happened?"

"I learned he did something, and I'm having a hard time coping with it." He said as they were halted by the gate guards.

"Kurotsuchi! Is that you? Thank god. We were worried. What happened to your hands?" The guard asked. "Who's the blond kid?"

"I'm fine Akiko. I ran into some trouble. And he's a wandering ninja who saved my virtue and probably my life. He wants to join. Is Jiji-sama here?"

"Yes. He just got back from a council meeting. Head on. Its nice to meet you. My name is Akiko Yugeo." The guard said, holding out a hand to the blond ninja.

"Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki." He said taking shaking the hand. He noticed the Iwa chunin wide his eyes.

"Come on Naruto. Time for you to meet the Tsuchikage." Kurotsuchi said pulling Naruto into the village.

The Kage tower was in the middle of the village so it wasn't a long walk, but Naruto saw a lot of the villagers and some ninja bowing to her. Some of them gave him a confused look but no one glared.

As they walked in, Naruto saw a brown headed woman behind a desk going through scrolls. She looked up when she heard the door open.

"Kuro-chan your back. You had us so worried. Even Tsuchikage-sama was worried." The woman said getting up to give her a hug.

"Hello Yumi-chan. Naruto, this Yumi Kenshi. She is one of my best friends. Yumi-chan, this is Naruto. He saved my life. Is Jiji-sama in?" Kurotsuchi asked.

"Of course. He just got done with lunch and a council meeting. Go on in" she said.

"Come on Naruto." She said as they walked a set of stairs. They stopped in front of an embezzled door and knocked.

"Enter" a gruff voice said. Naruto was nervous.

Onoki was irritated. The council were being idiots and one of them had said something of a political marriage to help relations with Suna.

As if. He turned the idea down and ended the meeting immediately. He wanted to destroy something. He had just got done eating lunch when someone knocked on his door. "Enter he said.

He smiled when he saw Kurotsuchi, which faltered when he saw the state she was in, and then rose an eyebrow when he saw blonde ninja dressed in black, with a huge sealing scroll on his back enter as well.

"Kuro-chan. I was starting to worry about you. I want a full brief. Who is this ninja you brought with you?" He said eyeing Naruto down. Naruto stepped forward and bowed.

"Greetings, Tsuchikage-sama. My name is Naruto Uzumaki."

Onoki rose an eyebrow. "Uzumaki you say. What does an Uzumaki want with Iwa?"

Kurltsuchi stepped forward. "Jiji-sama, let me brief you." The old man nodded and offered the two a seat.

"Thank you. My mission to Kaze no Kuni was a success. The Wind Daimyo would love to set up a trade deal. Here is his return missive. I got side tracked after that. I ran into a pack of mercenaries that consisted of mainly A rank missing ninja."

"Well I managed to kill most of them, but I was caught in a corner. I was resisting against the leader and he knocked me out. Naruto was the ninja that saved my life and most likely my virtue as well. We were in Kusa, so Naruto took me to a village called Tea. The hospital took care of me. But as you can see I wasn't exactly in traveling condition. So Naruto offered to travel with me."

Onoki held his hand up. "So, Naruto-san. You have my thanks for saving my granddaughter. But why did you offer to travel with her?"

Naruto decided the best route would be to be honest. "Truthfully sir, I am a former Konoha ninja. I was in the middle of leaving my the leaf, and Tsunade-baa-chan ordered me to go to Suna. Probably so she didn't have to mark me as a missing nin."

"And what caused you to leave the Leaf Village." He asked.

"Well sir. I am a jinchuuriki." He said simply making Onoki choke on some water. " The nine tails container to be exact," he said as he proceeded to tell Onoki the events that led up to him saving Kurotsuchi.

"So when I made the diversion to distract the bandits, I fled with Kurotsuchi to Tea village." He said. He hoped the Tsuchikage would believe him.

"So you were scorned in your village, and aftera successful retrieval mission, you were told you still messed, put on probation, and all the while suffering from a major chest wound. Then you decided to leave. Because Tsunade-dono likes you, she reassigned you. " Onoki started to say.

"And that in turn led me to Kurotsuchi who was being attacked. After taking her to the hospital, she asked me to travel with her because of her condition. Along the way she asked me if I would consider joining Iwa. Even though I'm supposed to go to Suna." Naruto finished for him

"Please Jiji-sama. He has a lot of potential. Plus with Iwa having the nine tails jinchuriki, and having him train with Hans-taichou and Roshi-nii-san, we would be unstoppable" Kurltsuchi said. Onoki gave Naruto a hard look. Naruto didn't back down.

"What's to stop me from taking the fox demon out of you and into one of my Shinobi? Did you think about that?" He asked. He was surprised when the young blond nodded.

"Yes sir. But before you try you need to know that my seal isn't normal. It was personally designed by the fourth hokage. And from what the fox says, we are bound together. If I die, then he comes me." Naruto said with a smile. Onoki nodded.

"I see. So it doesn't matter what happens. Fine. I'll induct you. Kurotsuchi, go to the hospital and get your wounds looked at. You Naruto, will stay here and fill this sheet out." The aged Tsuchikage said.

"Hai. Naruto, I will see you later" she said before her body turned browned and crumpled into a pile of earth.

"Now that she's gone I will ask more questions. How can I depend on your loyalty? You are a missing nin technically."

Naruto frowned. "I am loyal to the people I care about. The people of Konoha do not deserve it."

"An acceptable answer. Tell me Naruto, what should a ninja do about their feelings in a mission?" Onoki asked.

"A ninja needs to keep their emotions and feelings in check during a mission but they should never abandon them. To abandon them means being a tool. Human beings are not tools" Naruto responded with passion.

Onoki laughed and nodded, "agreed. Now fill this sheet out it will be used to issue you a new ninja license."

Naruto nodded. He took the paper and started to fill out _truthfully. _He took a deep breath and handed it back, steeling his nerve.

Onoki took the sheet and started to go over it.

'Name: Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze

Height: 5'4

Weight: 120

Hair: blonde

Eyes: blue-'.

His head snapped back up at the name. "Do you think yourself a jokester, mister _Namikaze?!" _He said.

Instead of answering, Naruto unfurled his scroll and went to a section. A poof of smoke later and he was holding a peculiar looking tri pronged kunai. Onoki eye's widened and he floated in the air, ready to strike at a moments notice.

"Please settle yourself Tsuchikage-sama. I am the son of the Fourth Hokage. I only learned a few weeks ago. I do not know the Hiraishin but I do know this" he said as a shadow clone poofed beside him and started to form a rasengan formed. "I am not a secret agent, there is no foul play, this isn't a trick. The hokage kept this a secret. Know one else knows that the Yondaime had a son." He let the rasengan go away and put the kunai back.

Onoki narrowed his eyes. "You could have kept your name a secret. Why didn't you?"

Naruto kneeled in front of the Tsuchikage, "If I am to be a stone ninja then you are my kage, you deserve to know the truth. Only you will know. Kurotsuchi doesn't even know" he said. Onoki floated down and stood in front of Naruto.

"Rise Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze" he said. When he did Onoki floated to be eye level with him. "Repeat after me. I do hereby swear my allegiance"

"I do hereby swear my allegiance"

"To the Tsuchikage, to Iwagakure, and to the people of our village"

"To the Tsuchikage, to Iwagakure, and to the people of our village"

"To uphold the ideals of our villages, to protect our stone walls, and if need be, lay down my life to make sure no harm comes to any of them"

"To uphold the ideals of our villages, to protect our stone walls, and if need be, lay down my life to make sure no harm comes to any of them"

"You are a part of the stone now. Now. Go to the hospital, with this note, and get yourself checked out. Then grab Kurotsuchi and tell her to bring you to the Tsuchikage mansion. You will live there for now." He said. "In the meantime I'm gonna decide what to do with you. You will learn later on this evening. Dismissed"

Naruto bowed again and turned towards the door. He grinned sheepishly before looking at Onoki.

"How do I get to the hospital from here?" He said, scratching the back of his head. Onoki sighed and pulled out a map.

"It's on main street. Here"

"Thank you Tsuchikage-sama." The blond said before running out the door.

Onoki watched him, before going back to his desk and started to do some paperwork. 'So Iwa now has the Namikaze legacy and if he can get to Uzushiogakure, then we will have the Uzumaki legacy as well. Good job Kurotsuchi. Now lets see here. This will be good.'

(**With Naruto)**

Naruto found the hospital easy enough. He saw the people staring at him and wonder why. They weren't hate filled glares. More like, confused. He shrugged and just went on it. .

"Hello welcome to Iwa's Recovery Hospital. What can we do for you?" The brown headed woman said.

Naruto passed her the Tsuchikage's note and watched her eyes widen before she nodded. "Follow me sir" she said and led Naruto into a white room.

It took five minutes before a woman walked in. She wore a standard doctor's outfit except on her coat was two brown stripes on the sleeves. She curly blue hair and soft brown eyes.

"Hello. My name is Mikato Rato. I am the head medical ninja here. Orders from the Tsuchikage to do a check up, and to start a profile for you." The woman said.

"Yes, I did Mikato. You are also to keep everything you hear a secret." The Tsuchikage said, except Naruto noticed something.

"You're a shadow clone?" Naruto questioned. The old man smiled, while Mikato bowed.

"Sharp eyes Naruto. Except I'm **Tsuchi Bunshin**" he explained. "I forgot to tell you. Be honest here. Mikato will keep everything you say a secret." Said woman scoffed

"Of course. I have a sworn oath of patient confidentiality. Even you need the approval of the council to look at these files. The old kage nodded.

"Of course. Makito, this is Naruto. He is Iwa's newest ninja. I'll excuse myself. I need to find my daughter. " the clone said.

"She is in room 5, Tsuchikage-sama" Mikato said.

"Thank you." And he was off.

"Okay Naruto. Please take your shirt off and sit up straight please." She said. Naruto nodded and Mikato gasped when she saw the scar on Naruto's chest. "What happened here?"

"A raiton jutsu pierced my chest." He said simply. The woman's hands turned green and started to move across his upper body.

"This wound is recent. Its healing nicely yet its also slightly agitated. Can you explain?" She asked as she started to check his back.

"Yes. I am a jinchuuriki. The person I fought used a smaller version of the Sharingan no Kakashi lightning blade. He shoved his hand through my chest while we fought. I used a lot of demonic chakra and was near exhaustion when the fight was over. So the Kyuubi tried his best to heal me but it he couldn't heal it fully."

"Kyuubi? Wait you're from the leaf village then?" She asked

"Yes ma'am. Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. Son of the Fourth hokage and former ninja of the leaf." He said.

Mikato froze before she rose an eyebrow. "I don't exactly think the leaf would allow the son of their most famous ninja to exactly leave, don't you think? "

"I'm surprised you didn't react negatively when you heard that. I was under the impression that Iwa had a hate boner for my father."

Mikato scoffed again. "Please. War is war. There is a lot of resentment for what the Yellow Flash did but it's not your fault. Some may try to hurt you for being the Yondaime Hokage's legacy but you'll just have to show them that you are your own person. Besides, I swore an oath as a healer to never turn my back on anyone in need. Plus i was ordered."

Naruto smiled. "Well Naruto-san, you are good to go. The chest wound is healing at a nice pace and I've done all I can. You may leave. I suspect Kuro-chan will be waiting for you. Have a good day now."

"Arigato Mikato-san." He said putting his shirt on and reattaching his scroll. He bowed to the doctor before walking into the waiting room. He saw Kurotsuchi reading a magazine before she jumped out of her seat. He smiled when he saw her hands out of the casts.

"Good. Let's go. Jiji-sama says your going to be living with us so he can keep an eye on you. Do you know how to shunshin?" She asked. Naruto shook his head.

"That's fine, it's a B-rank evasive technique. Probably couldn't do it here anyways now that I think about it. You basically envision a place in your mind and focus your chakra on your feet. The longer the distance the more chakra required." She said as she led him to a huge house. Naruto

(**With Jiraiya)**

**'**damn Naruto, how far did you travel? Please tell me you made it to Iwagakure' perverted sannin thought to himself. He had traveled to Kusa and stopped in some places. He finally stopped in Tea and talked to one of his informants.

_Flash back. _

_Jiraiya had just made it to Tea. He hadn't heard a single thing since he had started traveling and he was getting desperate. _

_He saw his informant sitting at a bar. "Suzuki. It's been awhile since we've spoken face to face. How are you my friend?"_

_Suzuki Mei smiled at the sannin, offering him a drink as he sat down. "Not bad Jiraiya. It's been good. I'm working in the hospital now. Working with my hands and helping people are great. Please forgive me, but why did you call for me? My bi monthly report isn't due for another week and a half."_

_Jiraiya puller out a picture. "Has this boy walked through here? This is very important."_

_"Yeah. Narat...Naro….Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki was his name." He said as he remembered. "Came in about five days ago with some Iwa chunin."_

_That took the older ninja for a loop. "What do you mean Iwa chunin?"_

_"Well from what I was told, this Iwa chunin, Kurotsuchi was her name, was attacked in badly wounded. Naruto saved her, brought her to the hospital, and collapsed himself." He started. "They wake up, the Iwa chick is insisted that she gets back to Iwagakure as soon as possible. She offers Naruto payment for escorting her to Iwa. That's about it"_

_Flashback ends_

Jiraiya had started hightailing it back to the village. If he guessed right then Naruto was almost Iwa by now. He needed to tell Tsunade. Then they could have the Tsuchikage taken to Suna. He had five more hours to the village and it was getting dark. 'Stay safe Naruto'

**(With Naruto)**

To say Naruto was impressed was an understatement. The Tsuchikage mansion was big. But not too big he noticed. He liked the grey interior as he walked up a flight of stairs.

"Okay Naruto. My room is the very last room on the right. Jiji-sama is across the room, on the left. You can have the guest bedroom. It's right next to mine. Be careful when you use the bathroom. Our rooms are connected by one." She said with a look that made Naruto gulp.

"Yeah. Got it. Be careful." He said.

"Tomorrow we are going over your wardrobe and getting you knew clothes. Then I'll have a couple of days off so we are going to spar. Understood?" She said. Naruto dropped of his scroll as Kurotsuchi gave him a tour.

They had just finished when Onoki walked in. Naruto bowed. "Please Naruto, when I'm not in my office or the Kage robes treat me like I'm a normal person." Naruto nodded his head.

"Thank you Onoki-jiji, I hate formalities anyways. Thank you for accepting me into your home." The blond said. Kurotsuchi grinned at Naruto's choice of words.

"Yes. But don't expect to be treated any different. You will be worked. Tomorrow I want a demonstration of your powers. But for now take this." He said and tossed Narito a brown chunin vest. "You will work under Kurotsuchi until I can get a hold of Roshi and Han. They are jinchuriki like you and will help you master your powers. Now then, can you cook. I'd rather not cook anything right now and Kurotsuchi somehow manages to burn water"

Kurotsuchi blushed in anger and Naruto grinned. This may turn out good after all.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**I hope ye enjoy. Two year time skip in the next chapter and some romance development. **

**Naruto is an Iwa ninja(shock?) And Tsunade is worried. Onoki knows though is reserving judgement. For those wondering, I believe a child shouldn't suffer the sins of their parents and Onoki will follow this belief. **

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter. **

**I can not promise a regular update schedule unfortunately. I am in the process of moving plus I am going to Ohio soon for a family reunion, plus plus I there's a lot of work to be done. So I don't have a lot of free time to write unless I stay up all night. **

**Anyways. Stay tuned for the next chapter. "A Choice" **


	3. The Heavy Storm of the Stone Village

**A new chapter. A lot goes on. I hope ye enjoy. To those reading Secrets of a Fox, I am writing that but I've hit a small bit of writer's block. But it is on its way. New chapter for that will hopefully be out by the end of next week. Now onto reviews. **

**Bankai777: you'll just have to wait and see**

**To everyone else: thanks for the positive reviews. The more i get the more determined I am to write it. **

**On a side note. My japenese is not very good. All i have is Google translate. So when you see some things in japanese and some not that's why. I know some Japanese. Mainly from other fanfic. Should I stick with it like did in this chapter or should I keep all my jutsu in english? Let me know. **

**Now onto the chapter. **

**"Normal talking"**

**'Normal thinking'**

**"Demon talking/ Jutsu"**

**'Demon thinking'**

**I do not own Naruto. **

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

Naruto looked down at his new home. It had been two years since he moved to Iwa. In two years a lot had happened.

First thing was Onoki made Naruto dissolve his contract with the toads. The problem was dissolving it in a way where the toads wouldn't learn of his new allegiance. The elder kage said it wasn't a personal matter, it was just that the toads were a Konoha contract. They wouldn't serve a ninja if they knew where he was now.

The solution came from Kurotsuchi.

_Flashback, 1 and a half years ago. _

_"So Onoki-jiji, if I can't summon the toads, how do I dissolve my current contract with them?"_

_"Well the best way would be to sign another contract and have the new contract take dominance. That will automatically end your connection to the toads. I am surprised the toad sannin hasn't reversed summon you yet" Onoki said. Naruto showed signs of confusion. _

_"What do you mean reverse summon? That's a thing?" _

_"Yes. When you sign a contract you make a connection with your summons. Through that connection, you can summon your new allies and through the very same connection, they can summon you to their realm." He explained. Kurotsuchi furrowed her eyebrows before a lightbulb went off. _

_"Jiji-sama, what about the Hokori Takai Caves (Prideful Caves)?" She asked. Onoki hesitated. _

_"It is a gamble. Nala-joo (Queen) hasn't chosen a summoner since the founding of Iwa. But that is a possibility." He looked at Naruto. "Hokori Takai Caves holds a very powerful summon. They are lead by their Queen, Nala. She is the leader of the Lion clan. But she is very picky about who can summon her and her family."_

_Kurotsuchi stood up quick. "It's worth a shot. Besides, she has never killed any of the ninja who have tried to take her challenge. Naruto, Nala-joo holds a challenge. Anyone who can best it may have her summoning contract. No one knows what it is. If you fail, she has a jutsu that wipes your memory up to the cave" _

_"Yes. In the years that I have been Tsuchikage, 50 ninja, of all ranks and ages, have tried. Only two died, the rest failed. The journey must be made alone. If you wish, I will have Kurotsuchi make you a map." Onoki said. Naruto made a fist and grinned. _

_"Losing the toads will be sad, but I am ready to face this challenge. Besides, Lions sound awesome" he said. Onoki nodded and made a motion to Kurotsuchi. _

_"While she is gone I must say, Iwa clothing look great on you." He said. Naruto now wore a fishnet shirt under the standard red Iwa uniform with his right arm being sleeveless. He wore his new Iwa headband on his right arm and on his hands were his black fingerless gloves with the metal backings. "Though the more you grow the more like your father you look. So be careful. You keep like this, and I'll have to reveal your secret"_

_"Thank you Jiji-sama. They fit very well." He said "Once I can make a name for myself then we can reveal my secret"_

_"Agreed" Onoki said as Kurotsuchi entered the room with the map. "Now Kurotsuchi, lead him to the trails edge. May Lady Gaia watch over you." _

_"Come on Naruto." She said, jumping out of the window and onto a nearby rooftop. Naruto was quick behind her as they ran off. _

_It was very clear to Naruto where the Hokori Takai Caves were. He eyed Mt. Kokuyōseki (obsidian). It was said the mountain was made from a rare form of rock that was nigh indestructible. "Nala-joo lives at the peak. You'll need to be careful. The rock this mountain is made up is completely resistant to chakra flow. "_

_They stopped in front of a dirt path. Naruto estimated they were twenty miles outside the village limits. "This is where I leave you. Good luck" she said. Naruto was surprised when she gave him a quick hug. "Come back in one piece."_

_Naruto nodded and took a deep breath. He dashed forward and continued up the mountain trail. It would take him most of the day to go up. But he was determined to do it. _

_All the while he had many things running through his mind. The very top one was how he should act around the lion queen. _

_'Fuck it. I'm gonna be me. If they can't accept me as I am then it wasn't meant to be at all.' He thought. _

_Mt. Kokuyōseki was the tallest mountain in Iwa. Naruto was half way up when he took a break. He saw a good view of the stone village below him. 'I've been here for six months already. And I'm already being treated better than I ever was in Konoha.' _

_He sighed as made his way up. He was close to the top when he saw the path stop. He would have to climb the rest of the way up by hand. He cursed when he saw that he was in an area where he couldn't use chakra. _

_He pulled out two kunai and tried to stab them in the mountain. They snapped. 'Fuck' he looked up and studied his surroundings. He noticed that there was a ledge 10 meters above him. _

_**"Kage bunshin no jutsu" **_ _he said as five clones appeared. They nodded, already knowing the plan. Naruto took a couple of steps back before running towards the clones who held their hands out. _

_When he was close he jumped on there hands and they threw him in the air, channeling as much chakra as they could in their hands. Naruto flew up and he flipped down onto the ledge. _

_He grinned at the success of his plan but froze when he noticed his new surroundings. He was in front of a cave. Five lions were lazing about but they had their heads up and analyzed him. _

_One of them roared, almost causing Naruto to jump but he caught himself. He took a stance and waited. _

_From the very back of a cave a Lioness started to prowl forward. Her fur was as white as winter and her eyes were blue as ice. The Lions all went there feet as she passed. _

_"__**So another human has come to my cave. You are here to take my test I presume?" **_ _She asked. Naruto nodded but never dropped his stance. "__**Curious. I smell the scent of toads on you. Why?"**_

_"I was signed on with the toads. But I wish to leave them as I am no longer a leaf shinobi" _

_"__**Why not call and cancel your contract? It is simpler. " **__Nala said boredom in her voice. _

_"True. But Onoki-sama wishes for my contract with the toads to be dissolved in secret." _

_"__**I see. Well then. My name is Nala, Queen of the Lion clan and ruler of Mt. Kokuyōseki. The five lions around me are my guards."**_ _She said, sitting in front of Naruto. __**"Drop your stance boy. I will ask you a question. If you give me a proper answer you may summon my contract. If you fail I will wipe your mind and you will go back to your home."**_

_Naruto nodded and sat as well. "__**Okay. Your mother, your wife, and your daughter is hanging over a vat of hot lava. You have thirty seconds to grab one before the ledge gives out but the exit is twenty seconds away. Which one do you save?"**_ _She said, her eyes seemingly piercing her soul. _

_Naruto thought about it for a moment. But he smiled. "I would use my __**Kage Bunshin**_ _to grab my mother and my wife while I grabbed my daughter."_

_"__**Kage Bunshin? What is that?" **__Nala asked. _

_Naruto jumped up and crossed his fingers. Three clones poofed into existence. "They are solid clones."_

_**"I see. Why would you have personally grab your daughter instead of one of your clones?"**_

_"That answer is simple enough. My mother and wife would have killed me if I had picked them over my daughter. Plus the next generation must always be protected looked out for because it is they who will replace us." He said. _

_"__**Interesting" **__Nala said, looking at Naruto for a solid minute. He felt a ping in his mind and suddenly he was standing in a familiar sewer system. He was confused but made his way to the cage where the Kyuubi was. _

_"Oy fox. What happened?" He shouted. _

_Kyuubi snorted, "__**That Nala brat entered your mind. You were pulled in with it." **__._

_"__**Still the same old Kurama aren't you, you oversized plushy." **_ _Nala said walking up beside Naruto. _

_"__**I remember when your father's father ran your clan. I even remember when **_

_**Chikaradzuyoi came to me when you were born. Don't look bad for someone over the age of 60."**_ _The kyuubi said. _

_"Wait. Your name is Kurama? Awesome" Naruto said. _

_"__**I know I am. But why are you here Nala. I don't like intrusions." **_ _He growled. _

_"__**I am here to see his mental fortitude plus to see his memories. He answered the question right. But now I wish to see how he carries himself. Only those with noble hearts and strong minds can summon us." **__Nala said. _

_Naruto scowled. "Well you could ask before you start poking around."_

_Nala gave a short bow. "__**My apologies Naruto. Most people don't have access to their inner mindscape like you do. Most people can't even tell when I am in there head."**_

_"Well it's fine. You want to go through my memories. Fine. But be prepared. My childhood wasn't exactly rainbows and sunshine." He said as a pool appeared next to him. Nala walked forward and stared at her reflection. _

_Soon her reflection warped and started to show her Naruto's life. _

_"How far do you think she'll go?" Naruto asked Kurama. _

_"__**If she is as determined as I remember then everything will be viewed."**_ _Kurama sajd. _

_"You seem less evil and angry. Did something happen?" The blond ninja asked. _

_**"No. I hate you and the fourth Hokage for what he did. But I'm stuck here. I'm bound to you. The least I can do is make this situation pleasurable for me." **__Kurama said. _

_At the same time Nala backed away, gasping for air. She composed herself quickly and looked to Naruto. "I do not need pity. So whatever you're thinking stop. I want to earn my power. Not get it through pity points."_

_Nala threw her head back and laughed. __**"You are unusual Naruto Uzumaki**__. __**This may prove to be more interesting than I thought" **__she said lunging at Naruto. _

_When he opened his eyes he saw he was outside of his mindscape. Nala was looking pleased with herself and there were more lions and lionesses in the cave. _

_"__**Congratulations. You are the first summoner we've had in a while. I've put our mark on you, so that you may summon us at anytime. Please, summon now so that we may finish the bond."**_ _Nala said. "__**The next lion you summon will be your familiar. They will be our link with you. Simply swipe your blood on your mark and slam your hands on the ground."**_

_Naruto felt a bit of pain in his right arm and saw a white lion mark near his shoulder. He followed Nala's instructions and a cloud of smoke later a white lion appeared. _

_"__**Shiroshishi, my son. How are you?" **_

_**"I am fine mother. Why have you called me?" **__The Lion said. _

_"__**I did not. Our new summoner did. Naruto, meet my son Shiroshishi. Son, this is Naruto Uzumaki." **_

_Flash back end. _

Naruto grinned at the lion next to him. The lion clan had the unique ability of doubling or minimizing there size by a factor of 2x up to 10x. Meaning they could be as small as a house cat or as tall as Gamabunta.

Currently though, Shiroshishi, or Shiro for short, was about as big as a shepherd dog (Akamaru size in Shippuden.)

The second thing was training. He learned he had a fuuton and raiton affinity. Onoki had practically ordered him to train under Kurotsuchi and a friend of hers named Akatsuchi, a jonin.

Another thing was Konoha contacting Iwa. Tsunade had sent Onoki a letter asking if Naruto had been spotted with his granddaughter, saying Naruto needed to be captured and returned to either Konoha or Suna.

Onoki's response was simple. He had seen Naruto, let him go to the hospital and then he had been off to Suna.

The end result was Naruto being put in the bingo book. Tsunade didn't like it but she finally had no choice not too. He was listed as b-rank missing nin with a captured alive only bounty.

That didn't last long. Due to his strong affinity with both wind and lightning and a unique ability to combine them. Kurotsuchi explained that normally a combination of wind and lightning resulted in a magnetic release. But Naruto's combination let him use a special type storm release. Thus earning him the nickname Hageshi Arashi no Iwagakure (The Heavy Storm of the Stone Village.)

That was in Kiri's section of the bingo book. Kumo on the other hand had a different nickname for him.

Onoki had asked Roshi and Hans, the Rokubi and the Gobi jinchuuriki, to help train him. With their help he had befriended Kurama, and started to learn how to master his tailed beast chakra.

He currently could control 5 tails worth, which was astounding considering he was a 14 year old boy with two years worth of training.

After He fought Yugito Nii, the Nibi container, to a near standstill, and Kirabi, also known as Killer Bee, The Hachibi container, the Raikage gave Naruto the nickname Akuma no Iwa (The Demon of Iwa.)

Which after those two nicknames got out, Onoki was promptly asked to meet Tsunade, or have her come to Iwa. Of course Onoki asked her to come to Iwa.

Which is where Naruto was now. The leaf delegation was due to arrive in less than 4 hours.

"This view is quite nice Naruto. I can see why you like coming up here. Good morning Shiro." Said Roshi as he appeared from a mold of earth. "Onoki-sama has requested to see you. Hans and I will be there too. Best not to keep the old man waiting. By the way, you look nice in your new outfit."

Being the Lions clan summoner, Naruto was entitled to wear a personal outfit. He kept his hair in its normal look, letting it grow just a tad longer. He now wore a red Iwa right sleeveless shirt and a pair of black cargo pants. He wore his headband on his right arm and and chunin vest. His Lion mark was now bigger and was slightly embellished bringing more attention to it. On both of his wrists were seals, one for shuriken and kunai and the other for his secret weapon. He also wore a sleeveless white trench coat. On the back was a lion and nine tailed fox crouched against each other. Also on the back were his two nicknames.

"Thank you Roshi. I must give my thanks to Tadahashi. No only did he finish the coat, he also finished my new daggers" Naruto said.

"The dragon teeth daggers?" Roshi asked.

"Yes. Those. He finally got a handle for the two of them." Naruto said. He flicked his left wrist and out came two white serrated daggers. "They are super strong, razor sharp, and vary chakra conductive. I must also thank Nala-joo for the teeth."

"You should. But later. Come on." The older jinchuuriki said and was gone in a plume of lava.

"Show off" Naruto said and was gone in a tornado of thunder and lightning.

(**With Onoki)**

"Kurotsuchi. It's nice of you to join us. Me and Hans were talking about Naruto. He and Roshi will be with us shortly." The old Kage said. He pointed to a seat.

The black haired Kunoichi sat down and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by to different body flickers.

"Please take a seat." Onoki said. "Thank you for showing up on such short notice. First things first. Naruto. You have shown great potential. You have improved in everything you have trained at. With a 100% mission record no less. It is my honor to promote you to tokubetsu jonin in the skill of ninjutsu and stealth. Continue to improve and you will be a full jonin in two months time." He said passing Naruto a brown jonin vest with a stripe on the left pocket.

"Thank you Jiji-sama."

"Now onto the serious business. A Konoha delegation, led by the Hokage herself, will arrive in just under an hour. One of our field spies have spotted them already and has said her entourage consists of Jiraiya the Sannin, Kakashi no Sharingan, the Green Beast of the Leaf Might Guy, and the Ash Breather and a former member of the 12 guardians of the Fire Daimyo Asuma Sarutobi." The elder mansion with a serious face. "Kurotsuchi, you are one of the best Jonin we have, and as my granddaughter you will greet them at the gates and bring them to me."

"Understood Jiji-sama." She said. Suddenly a chunin burst into the room. He jumped slightly when Shiro growled at the sudden intrusion.

"Tsuchikage-sama. I bring an emergency field report from Hebi. It seems a delegation from Suna has been sent as well. The Kazekage has been spotted behind the Leaf delegates"

"Great. Dismissed. Kurotsuchi, you will wait for both delegates then. They were invited to show strength and unity no doubt. Hmm. Naruto, I want you and Roshi to go the raining field and have a spar. Try or not, I do not care. But I want to showcase why you are an A ranked ninja in the bingo book. Han you will stay here with me. Shiro I would ask for you stay here as an intimidation factor but I don't believe you will."

Shiro growled. **"No. My job as Naruto-dono familiar is to make sure he doesn't bite off more than he can chew. My mother would kill me if something happened to him on my watch. I will stay with him."**

Onoki raised his hand apologetically, "of course. I'm sorry. Kurotsuchi one more thing. Under no circumstances can you let anyone from the leaf delegation go to Naruto. They will all be present when they introduce themselves. Have Akatsuchi there if you need to. Understand? Good, dismissed."

All but Hans disappeared. "Onoki. Is it wise to have Naruto in the open? Why not have him hide until called?"

Onoki chuckled. "Because, I want to show those leaf ninja what proper care and guidance can do. Naruto was under the care of Kakashi Hatake, yet all he ever learned was tree walking. It also shows I am not worried about Naruto leaving."

Hans nodded, "of course."

(**With Tsunade)**

The entire trip had been nerve racking. She had no idea how Naruto ended up in Iwa, she didn't know why he disobeyed her order to go to Suna, and she didn't know why he hadn't tried to contact her in the past two years.

Jiraiya told her Naruto was in Iwagakure. Why didn't Onoki tell her? She cursed but kept a calm visage. She couldn't rush or be informal. In all her time as a ninja, no one had outsmarted Onoki of Two Scales. Only one ninja ever did and that ninja died 14 years ago.

She remembered learning where Naruto was…

_(Flash back two weeks ago)_

_Tsunade was sipping on some tea and doing paperwork. She was doing her normal routine. Drink coffee, do paper work, sip on some sake, worry about Naruto. _

_It was a normal day until Jiraiya came into her office with a serious face. _

_"Yes Jiraiya?" He said nothing. He pulled out the orange bingo book and flipped it to a page and handed it to her. _

_She read and nearly dropped the book. _

_"Name: Naruto Uzumaki_

_Village: Iwagakure, B-ranked missing nin- Konohagakure, alive only reward. _

_Nicknames: Hageshi Arashi no Iwagakure, Akuma no Iwa_

_Rank: chunin _

_Affentities: Fuuton and Raiton_

_Status: Jinchuuriki, Nine tails. _

_Skills: Ninjutsu- S, Taijutsu- B, Kenjutsu- B, all other skills- D_

_Bloodline: unique; Ranton. _

_Reason(s): _

_Kiri- A classed threat. Fought two Of the Seven Deadly Swordsman. Beat both and a squad of Anbu. Helped end the Kiri Civil War. _

_Kumo- A classed threat. Fought Jonin Yugito Nii, fully realized Nibi Jinchuuriki, to a stand still. Fought Kirabi, personal bodyguard to the Raikage and fully realized Hachibi Jinchuuriki. Did not win but forced Kirabi into using seven tails worth of his bijuu chakra. All Kumo ninja advised to only attack in large groups. _

_"Get me our fastest messenger bird." She growled._

_Flashback ends_

It wasn't long before the stone gates came in sight and she saw four guards on standby and a woman in the middle waiting patiently with a smile.

"Jiraiya, can you tell me who she is?" Tsunade said quietly. He responded in kind.

"Kurotsuchi, Aka Akuma no Iwa(Red Devil of Iwa.) Granddaughter to Onoki. She's a jonin currently and has been rumored to be a promising candidate to replace Onoki as the Godaime Tsuchikage."

She nodded as they stopped in front of the gate. Kurotsuchi put on a smile and bowed. "Greetings Hokage-sama. It is good to see you arrived with no problems. Before we move forward we will wait for Kazekage-sama to arrive. He isn't too far behind you." She said, as she spotted the blue hat in the distance. "I hope things were smooth for you Hokage-sama."

She kept her face impassive but put on a smile too. "Of course. It is a delight to see such a promising youth now a days. I've heard tales about your prowess with doton jutsu." .

"Thank you. Though I'm not a fan of the moniker, my grandfather didn't stop it. Greetings Kazekage-sama. Your arrival is a surprise but we are ready to accommodate you and your entourage."

Gaara smiled a bit and tilted his hat. "Thank you Kurotsuchi-san You remember Temari and Konkuro? It is good to see you in fine health. I'm sorry for the short notice but when Tsunade-dono said that Naruto was here, I knew I must see my friend."

"It is perfectly fine Gaara-sama. If you would all follow me, I will take you to Jiji-sama." She said.

She walked off and sighed in relief. 'I hope the rest of this meeting is as smooth.'

She started to speak about different tourist attractions and what not, trying to take as much time as possible. Soon they were approaching the Tsuchikage tower.

"Hey Gaara, is that Naruto?" Temari said pointing to a pair of ninja fighting in a training field next to the tower. Tsunade's head whipped to the side. She saw red head man with a couple of scratches on him against a blonde haired youth.

Tsunade nearly gasped. 'He looks so much like his father.'

Kurotsuchi looked over and grinned. "Yes that would be Naruto. It would appear that he's training against Roshi today."

"You mean Yonton no Roshi? The Yonbi jinchuuriki?" Jiraiya asked. The iwa Jonin nodded.

"Yup. Roshi has been helping Naruto train using the nine tails chakra." She said. Kakashi gave an eye smile.

"I think I'll go see my former student spar if you don't mind" he said. They were all surprised when a white lion appeared in front of them.

"**If you wish to observe Naruto-dono then you will do so from here" **the lion said, shocking the leaf ninja.

"A Lions summon? Wait did you call Naruto "-dono"?" Tsunade said.

Jiraiya nodded his head. "Wait. You wouldn't be from the caves of Mt. Kokuyōseki? The Hokori Takai Caves?" The Lion nodded. "Damn brat. That's why the toads couldn't reverse summon him. Tsunade all I'll say is there are two foes Gamabunta won't fight. The bijuu are one. And the second is Nala-joo of the Lion clan."

Shiro grinned. "**It seems your toads are smart not to face my mother in battle. And yes I did. Naruto impressed my mother enough to let him bear our mark. And I am his familiar, Shiroshishi. But most call me Shiro." **

"So I can watch Naruto from here?" Kakashi asked, wanting to watch Naruto.

"**Yes. You may watch. But if you try to interfere, I will personal kill you."** Shiro said bluntly. Kakashi nodded.

"Kurotsuchi, do you mind?" Tsunade asked.

"Not at all. It's been a while since I last saw them spar." She said.

(**With Naruto and Roshi)**

"That was a good blow Naruto. You've started to pack some punch into your swings. It's good to see your training pay off." Roshi said as he blocked Naruto's taijutsu assault. "Your former comrades are watching. You better put on a good performance. I think you should show off the Ranton and then we will move to our bijuu chakra"

"You got it old man" Naruto said before he jumped into the air and four clones appeared. They all descended onto the older ninja but he had no problem handling. He readied himself as the real Naruto landed behind him, finishing a chain of hand seals. "**Ranton: Daitoppa"**

He pushed out large bursts of air out of his mouth at a fast rate forcing Roshi to dodge. The group watching were surprised when the bursts of wind hit the ground and exploded into a cloud of lighting.

Naruto dropped the jutsu and pulled out a white dagger. He quickly focused Ranton chakra through it. From the top of the dagger grey wind clouds with lightning flashing through it appeared

"**Ranton: Susanoo no Oken (**Storm Release: Kings Blade of the God of Storms and Seas)"

Naruto dashed forward at great speeds, surprising the leaf delegates. He started to swing his dagger, twisting and turning, like he was a top. Kakashi noted the style relied on being able to switch attacks at the last possible moment. Meaning the Sharingan wouldn't be able to read it.

Roshi smiled as he ducked and dodged and grinned when Naruto came out of a swing with a second stormy dagger.

"When did Naruto pull out that second dagger?" Asuma asked.

"When he swung the blade downward into a spin. He must have a seal on his arm." Kakashi said analyzing the fight.

"**Ranton kenjutsu: Susanoo Taifu (Storm Sword jutsu: Typhoon of the God of the Storm and Seas)" ** naruto shouted as he started to spin like a top. As he picked up speed a grey hurricane with furious lightning strikes flashing through out it formed. Naruto stopped spinning for a second as he swung his blades toward Roshi, causing his jutsu to move, surprisingly fast, to its target.

The entire party was shocked at the force of the jutsu, forcing most of them to apply chakra to their feet so they wouldn't be pulled into the strong winds.

It lasted less than a minute, but the damage it did was clear to see. The entire training field was torn, scorched, the trees were uprooted.

Most surprisingly was the fact that Roshi was not on the field anymore. "So you wanna hide under ground eh? Fine by me. I get to test my new jutsu." Naruto said as he made two clones.

He made a rasengan in one hand. It slowly started to expand, the blue color became grey, and a shuriken started to form on the outside, spinning madly. Jiraiya gasped.

"No way…"

"What is it Jiraiya-sama?" Kurotsuchi asked.

Jiraiya seemed reluctant to answer but one look from Tsunade was all it took. "The Rasengan was made by the Yondaime. What no one knows is that it's technically an incomplete jutsu. When Minato developed the jutsu, he wanted it to be an elemental based technique. But he could never get it right. He told me he found a way a few days before he died. It seems Naruto has found a way too" he said, once again shocking the entire group. Kurotsuchi grinned at her friend.

Naruto jumped up and slammed the large spinning rasengan into the ground "**Ranton: Rasenshuriken"** he screamed.

The large rasengan exploded into a mini stormy hurricane. It cracked the ground and the watching party saw a red head jump from nearby.

"That's a dangerous technique Naruto. However I think it's time we get serious." Roshi said as a red chakra cloak started to form around him. His muscles started to expand lightly and his irises turned Golden yellow.

Naruto nodded as well. He crouched down as his chakra cloak took a hold. Red eyed with baring fangs, Naruto rushed Roshi with jonin like speed.

"It's my turn. **Lava style: Erupting Volcano Bloom" **he said as lava geysers started to shoot up under Naruto, forcing the blonde to stop his rush and start dodging. "Not good enough. **Lava style: Heat Mayhem Bullet" **

The red jinchuuriki started to spit out a multitude of lava bullets. Naruto growled before his two blades disappearing and he started to do hand signs as he jumped around.

"**Ranton: Susanoo no Hakai-tekina Ryu (Storm Style: Destructive Dragon of the God of Storms and Seas)** Naruto shouted as a dragon of storm clouds formed and launched at Roshi. Roshi did some hand signs in response.

"**Lava style: Protective Dome of Lava"**

A dome of hardened lava appeared around Roshi right as the dragon reached him. Another explosion went off but not as strong as the last one. When the dust cleared everyone saw that both jinchuuriki were now at three tails of chakra.

"**Get ready Roshi, this next attack will be my strongest." **Naruto growled. Roshi's response was to ready himself.

"Naruto is always coming up with techniques after he spars with Roshi." Kurotsuchi said. "He may just win this one though."

Naruto started to form a rasengan in his hand and then vanished. Literally. No one could see him. Not until he reappeared in front if Roshi, thrusting the now purpleish rasengan into the elder jinchuuriki.

Which passed through him as Roshi slowly turned brown and started to melt into mud.

"What the hell?! That looked like the Yondaime's Hiraishin. Except without the flash." Asuma said. Guy clenched his hands and got excited.

"It seems two years has done wonders to Naruto-kun. His flames of youth are shining brightly indeed." Guy yelled.

Tsunade quietly agreed with both as she watched the fight.

Naruto growled as he tried to sense where Roshi was when his world went back. Roshi appeared behind him with a cross chop and he watched as the chakra cloak slowly disappeared. Roshi caught him as he slumped over.

"Well. Naruto is only a tokubetsu jonin. He still has more to learn. Now if you'll follow me, Jiji-sana is waiting." Kurotsuchi said. "Naruto will join us when Mikato-chan release him from the hospital." Kurotsuchi said, motioning for the group to follow her.

"As a professional medical ninja, I can fix him up" Tsunade offered.

"It is not necessary, Tsunade-sama. Mikado is our best medical ninja in the village. She's not too far behind you actually. Besides, I'll probably get yelled at for letting you guys watch the fight." The Iwa kunoichi said.

Gaara clapped his hands, gaining everyone's attention. "Let's go, Tsunade-dono. Kurotsuchi-san will you let Naruto know that I wish to see him? Preferably when he's released from the hospital." Gaara said in his even voice.

"Of course. Now let's go" Kurotsuchi said. She led them into the tower and soon they were in front of an Oak door. "I must ask that you keep your body guards in the waiting area. If you want, you may have one with you."

Tsunade nodded and made a motion. "Jiraiya, stay with me. The rest of you guys go wait in the lobby."

"Temari, you will stay with me. Kankuro go wait with the leaf ninja." Gaara said. The group bowed and walked away leaving only the five in front of the door.

Kurotsuchi nodded at the group and knocked. "Enter"

Onoki looked at the group before him. He offered them a seat. "Thank you Kurotsuchi. You have done a fine job, though I wish you wouldn't dilly dally. Go check on Naruto. Now doubt he's already tried to escape. Once Mikado releases him bring him here. Dismissed."

Kurotsuchi bowed and disappeared into the ground. Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "He's tried escaping the hospital?"

Onoki chuckled. "Yes. With the Kyuubi sealed inside of him, he has an extraordinary regeneration factor. So when he gets seriously injured he feels he doesn't need to go to the hospital." He explained. "When ever he blacks out and wakes up in Mikado's waiting room he tries to escape. Some of his attempts are quite funny. But that's not why we're here."

Tsunade shook her head. "No it's not. You lied to me Onoki."

Onoki nodded his head. "Yes. But I didn't lie to you with malicious intent."

"So start from the beginning then. What happened? How did my friend end up here?" Gaara asked.

Onoki snapped his fingers and an anbu appeared with tea. "Have yourself a drink. It's a bit of a tale. And no it's not poisoned."

The sand jinchuuriki shook his head but made a motion for Temari. "I'll be fine Onoki-dono. Temari you may have some if you wish. Now proceed"

"Of course. Two years ago I sent Kurotsuchi on a mission to the wind Daimyo. It was a simple diplomatic mission. On her way back she ran into a group of missing nin led by Tsubaki Ryoma. I believe he's one of yours Gaara. They roughed her up pretty good. Naruto was in the area. He made a diversion, grabbed Kurotsuchi, and ran into Tea. Kurotsuchi was not in traveling conditions and she asked Naruto to bring her home. I don't know a lot about their trip but Kurotsuchi convinced him to stay in Iwa." Onoki explained.

"Okay. So why did you lie to me then?" Tsunade asked.

"Because Naruto wanted to remain hidden for a while. He wanted to grow in strength. I lied to you because Naruto asked me to keep his whereabouts a secret." He explained.

"So Naruto wanted to remain in secret. It's as if ue didn't care to become a missing nin" Temari said.

"That is correct Temari-san. From my own understanding, he was scorned heavily from a successful mission. To the point of being threatened by one of your councils elders, Tsunade. He was fed up and decides to leave. I do not know his original intentions but he had no problem accepting Kurotsuchi. There relationship is special, even if they don't see it yet"

That caught Jiraiya's interest. "What do you mean?"

Onoki chuckled. "Naruto is a very energetic person. He's been living with me and Kurotsuchi since his arrival. The only person he's ever truly comfortable around is my granddaughter." He said. "Kurotsuchi has always focused on her ninja career. She's never even had a crush before. But she acts different around Naruto. Like they've been friends for more than two years. I don't think they even know there feelings for each other but they are there. Isn't that right Hans?"

The rokubi jinchuuriki laughed quietly. "Indeed. Naruto is the only person besides Onoki-sama that can bring out the softer side of Kurotsuchi."

"So. Now you've heard that tale. What is your next move Tsunade-hime?" Onoki asked.

(**With Naruto)**

Naruto groaned as he woke up. He groaned even more when he saw the room he was in. Mikato laughed as she beard him struggle with the arm restraints.

"Is this really necessary Mikato-chan?" Naruto asked the blue haired nurse.

"They wouldn't be if you would stop trying to escape. I was actually about to take them off." She said as she undid the restraints. "You are perfectly fine. Minor bruises and burns. I take it you sparred with Roshi-sama?"

"Yeah. Konoha delegate arrived. We were supposed to put on a show for them." Naruto explained. "I don't know how he beat me. But i will win one day."

"Good to see you haven't tried to escape yet. That was a nice fight. But you have to tell me. What was that last move you used against Roshi? It looked like the Hiraishin according to the Konoha group." Kurotsuchi said entering the room.

"Hey Kurotsuchi. It's a futon jutsu. I haven't given it a name yet. But it's the pinnacle of futon chakra control. All it really does is take away all the air resistants you get when you move at high speeds, plus focusing raiton chakra into my feet."

Kurotsuchi was impressed. "Damn. If you train right you could be on par with the Raikage or even the Yondaime Hokage, in terms of speed. Anyways, come on. It's time to go. You ready to face Konoha?"

"Of course. I wasn't afraid of them two years ago when I left. Why would I be afraid of them now?" Naruto said as Shiro yawned and stretched.

"**I dare them to try something. I have a few techniques I need to perfect anyways."**

"Agreed. But let's not provoke them if we can help it." The blonde said.

"Hey Naruto. Where is your Uzu no Ken? I haven't seen you where it in a while." Kurotsuchi asked.

"My moms blade? I damaged it practicing with Hans last week. I sent to Tadahashi to see if he can repair it. Now. Let's not keep our guests waiting." Naruto said.

(**In a cave near Ale)**

Nine ethereal figures appeared on the fingers of a large statue. The figures were all various heights

A figure with purple rippled eyes made a motion and cut off the small talk. "Everyone. Meet our newest and last recruit, Hidan. He has been paired with Kakuzu. We now have enough members. We will be moving into phase two of our operations."

The only female of the group stepped forward. "Sasori, what has your Intel gathered?"

A hunched over figure replied. "The Sanbi has disappeared somewhere in Mizu no Kuni. I have scouts surveying the surrounding lakes. The one tailed container is currently in Iwagakure with the Hokage. I have yet to learn why. The Yonbi, Gobi, and Kyuubi jinchuuriki are also in Iwagakure. The Nibi, and Hachibi are still in Kumo. The Nanabi is in Taki."

The leader nodded. "Any potential threats?"

Sasori nodded. "A couple. But the one that needs to be observed is Naruto Uzumaki. He shows great potential. He is growing stronger every day."

"Keep an eye on him. Taking him on in Iwa is suicide with there being three jinchuuriki there presently. Everyone else, go. Do missions and make a name for Akatsuki. The elemental nations will fear for our name before they fear our power." The leader said before he disappeared. Everyone else followed.

The leader sighed as he stood on top of a tower in Ame. The blue haired female appeared next to him.

"We are nearly there Konan." He said.

"I know Nagato." She said as a cloaked figure wearing a mask appeared.

"Good job Nagato. With akatsuki now at full strength we will have peace in no time." He said. Nagato scoffed.

"My version of peace is not the same one you want. I want peace through power. You want peace through an illusion."

"Watch it. I have the power to destroy both of you. Just do your job and you will have peace." The masked man said as he started to phase through the tower.

"We shall see. Madara Uchiha" Nagato spat out as the masked man completely disappeared. Konan frowned.

"Is it wise to fight against him?" She asked. Nagato scoffed again.

"I have the eyes of a god. Once I have all the tailed beast I will have a power stronger than the gods themselves. Once I have that Madara won't even be a problem"

"If you say so" Konan said.

**XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX**

**I hope you enjoyed that chapter. I haven't seen a fanfic use Lions before and i have a few ideas for it. **

**Also what do you think of my unique version of the Storm Release? I like it. It's basically lightning infused wind. But i have plans. **

**A hint into the pairing revealed, Akatsuki is moving and Tsunade is not happy. What else is going to happen? Find out in the next chapter**

**Ploytoid signing out. Ja ne. **


	4. A Heavy Meeting

**So I know I was going to focus solely on Secrets Of A Fox, but I got writer's block with that so I wrote a little in this and found I had a good amount written. So I finished this chapter and decided to post it with the next chapter of SOAF plus the first chapter of another story i started to write.**

**I really do enjoy writing this story and have decided to continue writing it on long side SOAF and my new story, From A Time No Longer, my first attempt at a time travel story.I hope you enjoy this chapter and I will see yall later.**

**I do not own Naruto or anything else Naruto related, only my ideas.**

"Normal talking"

'Normal Thinking'

"**Demon/summon speaking"**

'**Demon/ summon thinking'**

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"What Will I do? I will wait for Naruto to explain himself. After that is up in the air. He is technically a missing nin from the leaf. Even worse because he abandoned his station and duties it counts as treason. A capital offense" Tsunade said as she sipped some of her tea. "The Fire Daimyo will be mad if I let slip a chance to capture a capital offender."

Hans scoffed from behind Onoki. "Forgive me Hokage-dono. But you will not be leaving with Naruto. In the two years he's been here he's made friends. Plenty of people here will fight you because you are Konoha. But his friends will fight for him for more than that. Me included."

Jiraiya smiled softly before he pulled out a journal. "The Steam Powered Hans. S class Threat from Iwa. near fully realized Gobi Jinchuuriki. Taijutsu S class. All other skills B class. Only attack in large groups. Extremely Hostile. This was taken from the time of the Third Ninja war."

Hans rose an eyebrow. "And?"

"You were also known as the aggressor of Iwa. You never played nice with anyone, even your own comrades. Yet here you are defending Naruto through your friendship. I see Naruto still has a talent for changing the hearts of the ninja around him"

Onoki chuckled "Indeed. Naruto has done many good things in Iwa. besides his rising popularity his status as an ex Konoha ninja is known. He is slowly changing the views of our people. He's started with his peers. To my knowledge only the older ninja still hold a grudge against the leaf."

Gaara smiled as well. "Of course he has. If he could take the darkness in my own heart and show the light then I doubt anyone on this planet could resist his passion."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Enter" Onoki said. The delegates held their breath as the door slowly opened. Tsunade scowled at the sight of Roshi, who bowed upon entering

"Tsuchikage-sama, Kazekage-sama, Hokage-sama. It is good to see you have arrived safely. I hope my spar with Naruto didn't cause any inconvenience" He said politely.

Tsunade waved her hands. "It's fine. But where is Naruto?"

"Yes, where is the blonde idiot? I suspected he would have escaped by now." Onoki commented.

"I am unsure. When I dropped him off at Mikato's room she was applying arm and leg restraints. I think I saw some suppressor seals too." Roshi said, oblivious to the stares he was getting

"Is that really necessary?" Temari asked, causing Onoki and Hans to laugh.

"Mikato is a healer Temari-san. No one leaves the hospital without her or one of her nurses say so. This causes a little game where Mikoto has to find new ways to keep Naruto from escaping. Though she usually fails." Onoki explained. This time it was Tsunade that laughed

"Of course she's going to fail. At age 8 he painted the entire Hokage Monument, in broad daylight, and didn't get caught until he was done. Then he led 2 anbu squads on a chase for two hours. They gave up because they couldn't find him." Tsunade said with a grin. "It was actually his academy teacher who found him."

(**With Naruto and Kurotsuchi)**

"So Naruto how do you want to play this? They came here for a reason." The jonin said as they started the walk to the tower.

"I'm not leaving. I think I have enough support behind me that they can't force me out"

"Idiot of course you have support. Akiko and his squad practically swore a life oath to help you after you saved them, Roshi and Hans won't let you be taken. Jiji-sama might just to see you sweat but would probably stop it." Kurotsuchi said. "You're not just the former leaf ninja anymore. You're an Iwa shinobi now. If they want to have a fight then bring it."

Naruto rolled his eyes at the fire in her eyes as they approached. Shrio walked beside them scoffed. **"Well i guess i'm just chopped liver. You also have my support and the support of our clan. If they try anything I'm summoning my mother." **

"So what can you tell me about the Konoha delegates?" Kurotsuchi asked

"Kakashi-sensei. He has the sharingan but you already know that. He's very tardy and lazy. But he's strong. Bushy brow sensei, Might Guy, is a pure taijutsu specialist. He doesn't use genjutsu and his ninjutsu arsenal is limited. He's very eccentric and use s the Forbidden Eight Gates. Asuma-sensei, I know about as much as you do. I never spent much time with him." Naruto explained. "Jiraiya is a super pervert but he's very observant and super strong. It would probably take Roshi. Hans, and I working together to take him down. Tsunade isn't a slouch either. Her combat prowess isn't high but her healing abilities and super strength make her a threat"

"Based on our initial research Asuma Sarutobi was one of the 12 Fire Guardians. The Daimyo's personal bodyguards. Which means he most likely means he's stronger than an average jonin." Kurotsuchi said as they stood in front of the tower. "Heads up. Most of the delegation is waiting outside the office. They were allowed one guard."

The blonde jinchuuriki nodded as they walked inside. The scene that greeted him made him sigh. Guy was doing one thumb handstand push ups, shouting something about passion and the flames of youth, Kakashi was in the corner reading an orange book, and Asuma was smoking a cigarette. It wasn't long before the green clad ninja was in front of his face.

"YOSH. You're flames of youth are shining brightly indeed Naruto-kun. You and Lee must spar at one point. He has been training to surpass you. Kurotsuchi-san it is good to see you again." Guy said with a thumbs up pose.

"Did you say something Bushy Brow-sensei?" Naruto asked reading a scroll that seemingly came out of nowhere. This caused Guy to drop to the ground crying.

"Damn you Kakashi" he cried.

"What was that Guy?" Kakashi asked while he stood up, causing the bushy ninja to cry harder. The silver haired ninja carefully observed Naruto. 'Minato-sensei, he;s grown strong,' "So you're an Iwa Ninja now. Considered an A ranked ninja. Quite a power growth. Though I would like to know the logic jump between Suna to Iwa if you don't mind."

Kurotsuchi took a step forward, "He will explain as soon as he reports to Jiji-sama. Come on Naruto." she said knocking on the door.

"Enter"

Naruto walked in slowly, feeling the eyes of the two sanin on him. "Jiji-sama" he said as he gave a slight bow, shocking the two leaf ninja present.

"It's good to see you Naruto but please don't disrespect my fellow Kage" Onoki said motioning to the other leaders.

"Of course. Gaara, Tsunade-sama" He said. Gaara quickly got up and caught his friend in a hug.

"Naruto. My friend. You dishonor me. In the last two years I have been to Iwa five times. All five times I didn't know you were here." he said with a scowl, making Naruto grin.

"What can I say, I liked the secrecy." He said. Tsunade wasn't quick behind and as soon as the words left his mouth he was enveloped in a bone crushing hug.

"Aren't you supposed to be his protector?" Temari asked Shiro, who was watching from the side.

"**Yes. But he called me a house cat earlier. As long as she doesn't kill him it's pay back"**

"Naruto. You brat. Do you know how worried I was for you?" Tsunade said on the verge of tears. "When Onoki sent the letter saying you left and you never appeared in Suna I was so worried"

"Baa-chan...Air...can't...breathe." the blonde ninja said, turning blue in the face. Tsunade let go and looked sheepish.

"Sorry, but what happened? Why did you disobey my order? I had to brand you a traitor," She said.

"I wasn't going to really. But when Kakashi-sensei gave me directions I ran into Kurotsuchi. Long story short, I saved her life, escorted her back to Iwa, and decided to stay. I was already leaving the leaf and I wanted to hide away for a while so I could train in my parents techniques. What are you doing here? This can't just be for a social call." Naruto said.

The blonde hokage sighed as she slumped back in her chair, "Naruto, what I say next comes from the Hokage of the leaf village, not your godmother. I need you to understand that."

This caused the Iwa shinobis to narrow their eyes. "Why is that Hokage-dono?" Onoki asked.

"Naruto comes from a noble lineage in the leaf, however when he was born his father was killed in the Kyuubi attack, as well as his mother. Sarutobi-sensei sealed away his birthright and changed his name so the enemies of his parents couldn't hunt him. However, word of his clan has reached the ears of my council. They have cleared his name of all charges and now are calling for him to come home." She explained with her head down.

"Of course they would drop his bounty when they heard he was the son of the Fourth." The elder Kage said with a scowl causing the Leaf and Suna delegations to widen their eyes.

"Fourth...as in the Yondaime Hokage… Minato Namikaze" Temari said while Tsunade and Jiraiya had different reactions.

"Naruto. You told Onoki you're heritage?" She said her voice full of shock.

Naruto scoffed, "Of course I did, he is my Kage after all." Han's grunted

"So you're village didn't care to demoralize a scared little boy who nearly died in a successful mission and branded him a traitor. But because he's the son of the fourth hokage they will take him back?" he asked in a dull tone. Onoki nodded his head

"Agreed. They don't want Naruto. They want the Fourth's legacy. Look me in my eyes Tsunade-dono. Has anything really changed? From the grape vine I've heard that your village celebrated his absence" the tsuchikage said with a frown. Tsunade said nothing as her eyes filled with tears.

Jiraiya noticed this and decided to pitch in, "I won't lie to you. It's true, the village celebrated. But his friends miss him. And so do we."

"Please Jiraiya-sama. As soon as he walks through those gates half the village will try to kiss his ass and the rest will try to slander him. The council is the only one who calls for him, and they only want what can only be possessed by him" Gaara said with a scowl. "My friend, what do you think?"

"Nothing will change. As soon as I return they will demand my fortune. And when that is taken I will be charged with some other crime. I was always the secret monster of the village. Maybe I still am a monster, but i am the Leaf's monster no longer" the blonde Jinchuuriki exclaimed.

"You were never a monster Naruto, not to us at least" Jiraiya pleaded. Tsunade put her hand up as she stopped the tears.

"No, they are right.. My council has informed me that if Naruto doesn't return they will repossess everything the namikaze clan owns. But that means going through a lot of legal trouble. The easiest route is to have Naruto come and claim it." She said with sad eyes. "But I do wish you could come home Naruto…" Naruto smiled sadly

"I am grateful you are trying to get me home Hokage-baa-sama, but Konoha was never my home. I made my home, my own place. I am respected here. I don't want to leave this place for a village who would use me and throw me away like i was yesterday's garbage." He said, causing all the Iwa ninja to smile.

"He has made his mind Tsunade-dono, I don't think you can persuade him." Gaara said, smiling at Naruto.

"I see. He was always stubborn." She said as she sighed and leaned back in her chair.

"What are your thoughts now, Hokage-dono?" Onoki asked.

"Too many Onoki-dono." She said thinking. "Truthfully I can never ask you to come back to the village Naruto. Not when you are so happy here. But I do want you to come to the village, and get what you want. The estate your father owned is still sealed. It has all the memories of your parents." She said.

Kurotsuchi finally spoke up, being the only one who hadn't said anything. "No. That's a death sentence. If Naruto walks into the Leaf Village as an Iwa Shinobi your council will scream murder." She said, Shishi nodding his head..

"**I agree with Kurotsuchi. What guarantee do you have that your council won't immediately arrest him?" ** he asked.

"You forget one thing. The Leaf is a ninja village, ran by me. I'll tell you as I told my council. My word is -sensei was old and needed the council to help him. I only need the shinobi council." Tsunade said Onoki agreed while he played with the Idea in his head.

"If you go Naruto, then I can't help you. I am busy for the next three weeks, trying to persuade the Earth Daimyo for more ninja in the village. I can assign you two people to go with you but that's all." Onoki said Kurotsuchi immediately stood up.

"I'll go with him" She said fiercely.

"So will I" Roshi said from behind Onoki

Gaara raised his hand. "I will accompany him to the village Onoki-dono. It has been too long and I hope to catch up with my friend."

"Kurotsuchi and Roshi I expected, what say you Gaara-dono? What do you gain from this?" Onoki asked.

"I gain nothing and expect nothing Onoki-dono. Naruto saved my life once. We are brothers through the demons that shackled our childhood. Two years ago I saw him take off after Sasuke Uchiha and I haven't seen him since. I will make sure he stays safe, you have my word" Gaara said, getting Naruto to smile.

"Okay then. Naruto if you want you can go. I expect you back by the end of the month, you hear me? Though do give the Konoha delegation a break. They did just all. You and Kurotsuchi go show them to the Rocky Roads Hotel. Tsunade-dono, Gaara-dono, it has been a pleasure to work with you but I must get back to my paperwork."

Naruto nodded as he and Kurotsuchi led the Kage out of the room. All the guards present jumped to their feet as they walked out, a million questions on their tongues. Tsunade held her hand out, stalling the questions.

"Kuro-chan, you are the jonin here, wanna take the lead?" Naruto said as Shiro shrank to the size of a normal cat and settled on top of Naruto's head. Kurotsuchi nodded.

"If you will follow me I will show you to your rest place for tonight" She said as they started to walk out of the Kage tower. Tsunade watched as Naruto and Kurotsuchi talked with each other and sighed. Onoki was telling the truth about their feelings for each other.

Plus she saw the way the other villagers smiled as they pass and how the other ninja respected them. She shook her head and smiled a sad smile.

Jiraiya saw this and frowned. "Kurotsuchi, would you mind if I stole Naruto for a moment, I would like a chance to speak with him privately"

"Please Jiraiya-sama, Naruto-kun is a Tokubuetsu Jonin. I can't control him. That is up to him, though Shiro follows him everywhere so." She replied.

"That's fine, I can handle myself. Come on pervert I know a spot. Naruto said as he held out his hand. Jiraiya smiled as he took it and they both disappeared in a small hurricane.

Gaara raised an eyebrow as they left. "Is that smart? Jiraiya could easily capture him."

Kurotsuchi laughed as she continued to walk, "Maybe so, but Naruto can easily hold off the Sannin until backup arrives, or Shiro could take Naruto the Hakai Tori Caves. So I'm not worried, but there shouldn't be any reason to worry. Right Tsunade-sama?"

"No, of course not. I am his godmother, and Jiraiya is his godfather. We won't do anything to endanger his happiness."

(**With Naruto and Jiraiya)**

Naruto had taken Jiraiya to a small hill right outside the village walls. It was coming out of the mountain and Jiraiya was in awe at the sight. He could see the entire village from here.

"It doesn't have a name but the Locals have called it Watchers Point. You can see all the major parts of the village from here." Naruto said as he smiled at the village below them.

"So. You really are happy here. Aren't you?" Jiraiya said with a sad sigh.

"I never planned it. But after I ran into Kurotsuchi, knew I was heading to Iwa. And when I brought her here… I actually felt like I could be happy." The blonde replied. "Then I made friends. Like Shiro."

Said lion hopped off of Naruto's head and yawned. "Onoki-jiji saw potential in me, not a demon. He had me train with Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi until I dropped and after them came Roshi and Han. But even more, I have friends in Kiri and Kumo now."

"You left everything behind you know. And you seem so much happier. But I knew you wouldn't leave." The old pervert said as he sat down

"What do you mean?"

"Ever since I learned you were in Iwa I've kept a toad watching you. For almost 3 weeks now its been reporting back to me that you were happy. I knew you wouldn't come back home to stay." he said with a heavy sigh.

"Are you okay Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked concerned.

"Naruto, I've had three apprentices. One of them died in Ame due to the war. Your father died due to the Kyuubi and you left Konoha. I guess I'm just getting to an age where I'm looking to pass on my will and dreams. Someone needs to take the Toad Contract. I was hoping it would be you. Don't get me wrong, signing on with the Nala and the Lion Clan is a testament to what you can be, but the toads were really attached to you. I thought you would be the one"

"I'm sorry Pervy Sage. I'm not the one but there are perfect candidates in Konoha who can take on your will. Konohamaru is one and I know he doesn't want the Monkey contract. He would make an excellent student and apprentice. You still have time you know." Naruto replied.

Jiraiya nodded his head, seemingly lost in thought. "Say, how about we spar. Nothing to serious. I promised Minato that I would look after you and honestly i failed. So now I want to test your strength for myself. What do you say? For old time's sake?"

Naruto smiled and nodded. Shiro, stay outta this one. You can be the ref. It's time for a student to surpass his old master."

This brought a smile to Jiraiya's face as he took a stance. "I may be old, but I'm not weak yet"

Shiro, who was now the size of a small horse stepped between the two. "**Okay, no maiming and no serious injuries. Naruto, if it's okay with you knock out blows allowed."**

"Of course, Pervy Sage won't do anything rash if he knocks me out" Naruto replied.

"WHEN I knock you out Brat. You've never beaten me before. You're only an A class ninja, I'm near Kage strength and I haven't even shown you my triumph card yet" Jiriaya said.

"**Okay then. Toad Man understand if i see a killing blow i will jump in to protect Naruto. Other than that...Begin"**

Immediately Jiraiya noticed that Naruto was more patient, as evident by the fact he didn't instantly charge him. He saw Naruto pull out two blunted kunai. "Get ready Pervy Sage, I just named this technique. It's one of my best. So keep up. **Fujin no Koka (Descent of the Wind God)"**

The toad sage saw Naruto disappear and reappear next to him. `No sound, no muscle movement...he just moves. It's like the **Hiraishin **except…' he blocked the kunai with his forearms and in one movement grabbed and threw Naruto to the side.

"That's one hell of a technique. Unless you're fast or have fast instincts it'll be near unstoppable. Now how do you achieve it?" He asked as Naruto got up. He grinned and spun on his hell and disappeared again.

He reappeared behind the older ninja only to be met with a roundhouse kick to the side that sent him flying. 'The air around his feet went away right before he disappeared..ah so that's the secret.'

Naruto got up again and put away the kunai before he smiled. Around his wrist a small orb of chakra began to form. It was smaller than normal but Jiraiya saw it was because Naruto had formed another in his other hand. This time a spark of lighting appeared at his feet before he disappeared.

This time it was Jiraiya's instincts that saved him. He ducked and rolled out of the blonde ninja's way as he reappeared and quickly sprung to his feet. 'At this rate he won't need a special seal. He'll be fast enough on his own'

"Still to slow Naruto. You can't catch me by surprise. But let's end this little spar. What do you say?" The toad sannin asked as he made a rasengan in his hand.

Naruto grinned as he accepted the challenge and made a rasengan as well.

(**With Kurotsuchi and Others)**

"And this is the Rocky Roads Hotel. It is our best hotel in all of Iwa. It is reserved for dignified guests such as yourself and others. No doubt ana anbu came before us to set up the rooms." Kurotsuchi said as they walked in.

It was a lavishly designed interior with brown as a primary color with decorations all over the place.

"Kurotsuchi, where did Naruto and Jiraiya-sama go? I would hope they wouldn't take so long." Gaara asked in his monotone voice.

Kurotsuchi thought for a moment. "He probably took him to thar hill over there. You can barely see it from here. It's attached to the mountains and grants a view to the entire village. Though it doesn't have a name the locals call it the Watcher's Point. Naruto likes to go there when he's feeling down or needs alone time to think."

"It sounds like him. When he was in the leaf he always went to the Fourth Hokage's head on the Kage Monument" Tsunade said.

"Yeah he likes the view. He's up their so much that some of the villagers have started to call him the Watcher. He's a beacon of hope to the villagers because of his popularity in the village."

"That reminds me. How did he become so popular? Most foreign ninja who join a village aren't usually so well received yet everyone is defensive of Naruto and they praise him." Temari asked.

Kurotsuchi nodded her head, it was a valid question. "Well it started that way. Everyone was very hesitant to let a former leaf ninja into the changed when he went on a mission with a friend of mine and his squad. Long story short Naruto saved the entire team from death and the mission from failure. When they got back, Akikko practically praised Naruto and after the news of what he did spread Naruto kept proving himself."

"Of course he did. If Naruto could change Gaara then theres no one he can't change." Kankuro said with a laugh.

"I do admit, Naruto has a way of changing people. He's been like that his entire career. Even on his first C rank mission, he managed to change people." Kakashi said as he remembered the mission to wave.

_Flash back_

"_He loved you like a father. And you still want to treat him like a tool? After everything he's done for you?!" a young Naruto scream at Zabuza, a former member of the Seven Bloody Swordsmen of Kiri. _

_Naruto cried as he saw the dead form of Haku, a young man whose entire life was dedicated to Zabuza. _

"_Shut it kid. You're words cut deep. Deeper than any Kunai. I knew how Haku felt. And I loved him like a son." Zabuza said as he sent a small prayer to kami._

"_Oh this just breaks my heart. Oh well at least it saves me a paycheck. The first one who can kill that idiot swordsmen get triple pay" Gato said as his army of mercs rushed forward._

_Kakashi quickly readied himself but the Kiri ninja stepped forward. "This is my mess Copycat. I'll handle this. Mind giving me a kunai" he asked._

_Kakashi stared for a minute before he flicked a kunai in the air and watched Zabuza catch with his teeth._

_Flash back end_

"Naruto is a ray of light that can't be ignored by any darkness. He showed me and now I wish to-"

Gaara was cut off by a huge explosion coming from watchers point. Kurotsuchi cursed as anbu and jonin started to rush over there. "Please stay here and get yourself settled. I'll be back."

"No, you said Naruto and Jiraiya were over there I'm going encase that stupid perver has caused an accident. The rest of you stay" Tsunade shouted as she ran out the door.

Kurotsuchi cursed again as she started to follow Tsunade.

'What the hell Naruto..'

(**Watchers Point)**

Naruto and Jiraiya started to charge each other, fully powered Rasengans in their hands. It wasn't long until they clashed and an explosion soon followed.

The scene that Kurotsuchi and Tsunade arrived too was the two ninjas engaged in a taijutsu match, both trading blows and going back and forth. Neither were gaining any ground on the other.

"What the hell Naruto. Why are you fighting" Kurotsuchi yelled, only to be ignored as Naruto was completely focused on the taijutsu lock.

Tsunade smiled and laughed a little, getting looks from all ninja present.

Akiko approchoaed Kurotsuchi. "Ma'am do you want us to engage the leaf ninja? What's going on?"

"There's no need for that." Tsunade said "They're not fighting, they're sparring. Look at their faces. They are smiling" she said as she pointed.

It took a moment due to the highspeeds that Naruto and Jiraiya were moving but Tsunade was right, they were indeed smiling.

Everyone was silently talking to themselves when Naruto disappeared again, this time when he reappeared Jiraiya was able to land a hit right in the middle of his stomach, sending Naruto right into a tree.

Jiraiya grinned victoriously and apparently just noticed his surroundings. He looked sheepish for a moment before rubbing the back of his head. "Umm. hey Folks...how long have you been standing there?"

"Damn Pervy Sage, that had some weight to i- where did all of these people come from?" Naruto said as he stood up. Kurotsuchi looked worried for a moment.

"Do you not remember the huge explosion that happened like Five minutes ago?!" She exclaimed.

"Oh you mean when we clashed rasengans." Naruto said

"Why are you fighting the toad sage?" She said bluntly

"**Because the toad man wanted to spar one more time. It's really no big deal Kurotsuchi" ** Shiro said from his perch on top of a tree.

"Okay, But was the HUGE FUCKING EXPLOSION necessary? You know, because the village wouldn't respond to a random explosion." Kurotsuchi yelled, now annoyed.

Jiraiya coughed into his hands before bowing towards Kurotsuchi. "My apologies. The spar was my idea. I wanted to see how strong he was. It was a primarily taijutsu spar before we used rasengan. I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

Naruto bowed as well. "I'm sorry as well. A spar with the pervert sounded too fun to pass up"

Kurotuchi sighed at the two ninja bowing. "What ever, that's enough for one day. The rest of you get back to your stations. Jiraiya-sama it's been a long day, why don't we retire to the hotel for the night."

The pervert nodded as he followed Kurotsuchi and Tsunade. He walked next to Naruto with a smile. "So about your technique. I think I figured it out"

"Oh, you mean the **Fujin no Koka**?"

"Yeah. You use your Futon control to get rid of the air resistance at your feet to help you obtain a greater amount of speed and you add lightning chakra to your feet so when you move you literally just move through the air? It's like the ultimate Futon style chakra control right?" he asked

"Got in one Pervy Sage. the hard part about the technique is that it requires a lot of concentration to keep my air resistance down so I can't apply a lot of lightning chakra to my feet. Plus i can only really make one movement with it. I'm currently limited to using it from a standstill position"

"Which is bad if your opponent is also fast because you won't have enough time to lock on to him to use it."

Tsunade smiled as she walked next to Kurotsuchi. "Boys. I swear all they do is focus on their ninjutsu and nothing else."

Kurotsuchi smiled as well. "Yeah, but they look so adorable when they talk about it because they get so focused."

"True. Jiraiya has always been like that and so was Minato AND Kushina. It's no surprise that Naruto is like that too." Tsunade said as she watched Naruto and Jiraiya talked about improving his technique. "It reminds of the debates we had before Naruto was born."

"Maybe you could tell Naruto some of those stories? All the time I see him reading their journals. He told me once he wished he could hear some of their stories. The journals can only tell so much?" Kurotuchi asked.

"Yeah I wouldn't mind" she said as they reached the hotel.

From the air Onoki had a small smile on his face as he watched the interactions between Naruto and Jiraiya. 'Just because you are a Stone Shinobi doesn't mean you can't family from the leaf Naruto. Maybe this trip will do you some good.' he thought to himself as he floated back to the tower.

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**So I hope you enjoyed that chapter, not much action but just you wait. A lot of you mention that Tsunade finding out was a bit forced and rushed but I have reasons for that. Plans in motion that require Naruto returning to the Leaf. But what will happen?**

**Find out soon. As this chapter goes up, so will chapter 8 of Secrets of a Fox and chapter 1 of From A Time No Longer. Go check those both out and i hope you enjoy.**

**Keep up the positive vibes and thanks for the support**

**Ploytoid signing Out**

**Ja Ne **


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